LIBRARY OF CONG RESS. 

Chap, .k'.r (Spyright No. 

Shelf..M.<^ 4 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




Actual size; photographed in Santa Cruz in January. 



THE LOGANBERRY, A CALIFORNIA HYBRID, BY J. H. LOGAN.— See page 400. 



THE 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS 



AND 



HOW TO GROW THEM. 



A MANUAL OF METHODS WHICH HAVE YIELDED GREATEST SUCCESS; WITH LISTS OF 
VARIETIES BEST ADAPTED TO THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS OF THE STATE 



BY EDWARD JcKWlCKSON, A. M. 

Professor of Agricultural Practise in the University of California, and Horticulturist of the 

Agricultural Experiment Station; Author of "California Vegetables in Garden 

and Field;" President of the California State Floral Society; 

Horticultural Editor of the "Pacific Rural Press" 

of San Francisco, etc. 



The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear. 
And verdant olives flourish round the year; 
The balmy spirit of the western gale 
Eternal breaths on fruits untaught to fail; 
Each dropping pear a following pear supplies, 
On apples, apples, figs on fig's arise; 
The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, . 
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow." 

— /V)/>c-.t Hoiit. Odys 



THIRD EDITION: LARGELY REWRITTEN. 



PACIFIC RURAL PRESS, PUBLISHERS 

SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 

1900. 




44381 



Entered According to Act of Congress, in the Year 1899, by 

EDIVARD /. WICKSON AND PACIFIC RURAL PRESS, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 




•eCOND COPY, 







TO LirrHEI^ lillRBANK, OF SANTA ROSA, 
WHOSE: CI^CATIVC HORTICULTURAL 
GENIUS HAS, BY NEW COINAGE OE 
"BLOOniNQ, AMBROSIAL ERUIT OF VEGE- 
TABLE GOLD," AHPLY REQUITED THE 
WORLD'S GIET OE THE CHOICEST ELOW- 
ERS AND ERUITS EOR THE ADVANCE- 
MENT AND ADORNMENT OF CALIEORNIA 
-THUS BESTOWING NEW HONORS UPON 
THE S TATE AND NEW RICHES UPON MAN- 
KIND-THIS WORK IS CORDIALLY IN- 
SCRIBED AS AN EXPONENT OE ESTEEM 
AND APPRECIATION. 



PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION 



The writer desires to express sincere gratitude for the cordial wel- 
come and patronage which the two earlier editions of this treatise have 
received, not only in California, but in other semitropical countries. 
At the time of the preparation of the first edition in 1889 there was no 
thought that it would find foreign fields of usefulness; it was merely the 
earnest hope of the writer that it would win its way as a safe guide to 
the extension of the fruit interests of California; and to that end no 
efifort was spared to constitute the work an explicit and truthful state- 
ment of natural conditions attending fruit growing in California, and 
accurate descriptions of the practises which best minister to success 
under these conditions. The generous patronage bestowed upon the 
work by Californians for a decade is a demonstration that this purpose 
was attained, and it is largely owing to their cordial commendation that 
the work has extended so widely into foreign fields. It is profoundly 
satisfactory to the writer to have the assurance that the acceptance of 
the treatise as a faithful guide to practise in California has actually fore- 
shadowed its popularity wherever the same fruits are grown; and, in- 
versely, its acceptance abroad is indirect evidence of its accuracy and 
helpfulness in California. 

With such inspiration as naturally proceeds from these facts, the 
writer has for two years devoted such time as could be spared from 
other pressing duties to a thorough revision of the work, condensing 
portions which were diffuse or merely of passing, local interest, and 
expanding other portions which are of deep and lasting importance and 
in which California experience and experiment really involve knowl- 
edge new to horticultural literature and of the widest applicability. The 
revision has required a rewriting of the most important chapters and 
a study of original data nearly equal to that involved in the preparation 
of the treatise in the first instance. The illustrations have also been 
largely replaced and the work brought up to the beginning of the cen- 
tury. 

As was done in connection with earlier editions, the writer desires 
to extend to all readers an exhortation to correction of any statement 
which may seem unwarranted from their points of view and experience. 
The subject is varied, multifold, and involved, every new fact is impor- 
tant and will be welcomed. 

EDWARD J. WICKSON. 

University of California, Berkeley. 



By the Same Author 
THE 



California Vegetables in Garden and Field 

A Manual of Practise With and Without Irrigation 







CONTENTS: 




Chapter 






C/iit/>/e>- 




I. 


Vegetable Growing in California 






X.\. 


Corn. 


II. 


Farmers' Gardens in California. 






XXI. 


Cucumber. 


III. 


California Climate as Related to 


Vegetable 




XXII. 


Egg Plant. 




Growing. 






XXIII. 


Luttuce. 


IV. 


Vegetable Soils of California. 






XXIV. 


Melons. 


V. 


Garden Irrigation. 






XXV. 


Onion Family. 


VI. 


Garden Drainage in California. 






XXVI. 


Peas. 


VII. 


Cultivation. 






XXVII. 


Peppers. 


VIII. 


Fertilization. 






XXVIII. 


Potatoes. 


I\. 


Garden Location and Arrangem 


ent. 




X.XIX. 


Radishes. 


X. 


The Planting Season. 






XX.X. 


Rhubarb. 


XI. 


Propagation. 






XXXI 


Spinach. 


XII. 


Asparagus. 






XXXII. 


Squashes. 


XIII. 


.\rtichulces. 






XXXIII. 


Tomato. 


XIV. 


Beans. 






XXXIV. 


Turnip. 


XV. 


Beet. 






XXXV. 


Vegetable Sundries. 


XVI. 


Cabbage Family . 






X.XXVI. 


Vegetables forCanning and Drying. 


X\II. 


Carrot. Parsnip, and S.ilsify. 






.\XX\II. 


See<l Growing in California. 


XVIII. 


Celery. 






XXXNIII. 


Garden Protection. 


XIX. 


Chicory. 






XXXIX, 


Weeds in California. 




Large Octavo, 


; 336 Pages 


; 12 Full- 


Page Plates 




Price $2.00 Includin 


ig Postage 


to 


Any Part of the United States 



PACIFIC RURAL PRESS, Publishers 



330 Market St.. San Francisco, Cal. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter PART FIRST: GENERAL. PAGE 

I. The Climate of California and Its Local Modifications. ... 9 
n. Why the California Climate Specially Favors the Growth 

of Fruits 19 

III. The Fruit Soils of California 27 

IV. The Wild Fruits of California 38 

V. California Mission Fruits 44 

YL Introduction of Improved Fruit V^arieties 48 

PART SECOND: CULTURAL. 

VII. Clearing Land for Fruit 57 

VIII. The Nursery 66 

IX. Budding and Grafting ... . , 76 

X. Preparation for Planting 90 

XI. Planting the Trees 10 j 

XII. Pruning Orchard Trees and Thinning Fruit 113 

XIII. Cultivation 138 

XIV. Fertilizers for F~ruit Trees and Vines 154 

XV. Irrigation of Fruit Trees and Vines 167 

PART THIRD: ORCHARD FRUITS. 

XVI. The Apple 187 

XVII. The Apricot 200 

XVIII The Cherry 214 

XIX. The Peach 228 

XX. The Nectarine 245 

XXI. The Pear 248 

XXII. Plums and Prunes 261 

XXIII. The Quince 278 

PART FOURTH: THE GRAPE. 

XXIV. Vine Propagation and Planting 281 

XXV. Pruning and Care of the Vine 298 

XXVI. Grape Varieties in California 309 

PART FIFTH: SEMITROPICAL FRUITS. 

XXVII. The Date 316 

XXVIII. The Fig 321 

[vii] 



VUl 



Contents. 



XXIX. The Olive 333 

XXX, The Orange 35i 

XXXI. The Lemon, Lime, etc 373 

XXXII. Minor Semitropical Fruits 3^' 

PART SIXTH: SMALL FRUITS. 

XXXIII. Berries and Currants 389 

PART SEVENTH: NUTS 

XXXIV. Nut Growing in California 406 

PART EIGHTH: FRUIT PRESERVATION. 

XXXV. Fruit Canning, Crystallizing and Drying 420 

PART NINTH: FRUIT PROTECTION. 

XXXVI. Injurious Insects 434 

XXXVII. Diseases of Trees and Vines 456 

XXXVIII. Suppression of Injurious Animals and Birds 460 

XXXIX. Protection from Winds and Frosts 465 

PART TENTH: MISCELLANEOUS. 

XL. Utilization of Fruit Wastes 469 

Index 47 1 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS. 



PART FIRST: GENERAL 



CHAPTER I. 



THE CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ITS LOCAL 
MODIFICATIONS. 

In climatic conditions affecting horticulture we have in Cali- 
fornia almost an epitome of the whole United States, with added 
climatic ciiaracters peculiarly our own. We have high moun- 
tain valleys with wmtry temperature-conditions, where only 
hardy northern fruits can be grown; we have hot valleys where 
the date palm confidently lifts its head to the fiery sunshine, 
while its feet are deeply planted in moist substrata beneath the 
sandy surface; but we cannot claim tropical conditions, because 
our dry air denies us many strictly tropical growths, although 
we have frostless sites for them. Intermediate between the cold 
and snow of the mountains and the heat and sand of the desert, 
we have every describable modification and gradation, and, 
naturally, it is between these extremes that our richest inherit- 
ance of horticultural adaptation lies. It is this infinite variety 
which gives us true title to the term semitropical. 

When this breadth and scope of our horticultural adapta- 
tions is realized, it becomes apparent that an enumeration of the 
fruits we can grow successfully would be, in fact, a catalogue 
of the known fruits of the world, except those which are strictly 
tropical. Wherever there is a northern or southern departure 
from the equator sufficient to bring energy to mankind, or where 
the same is accomplished by elevation upon tropical mountain- 
side or plateau, there also are fruits which find a welcoming 



lo Climatic Peculiarities. 

home in California, and are improved by the intelhgent cultiva- 
tion and selection which here prevail. On the other hand, it 
has been abundantly demonstrated, during recent years, by 
official awards at great exhibitions and by the sharp criteria m 
the markets as well, that the fruits of wintry regions are quite 
as much benefited by transfer to proper locations in California 
as are the people who come to grow them. From north and 
south alike, then, California makes grand acquisitions, and 
includes within her area the adaptations of the whole country, 
with some which no other State possesses. 

But while this horticultural scope is claimed for the State 
as a whole, it is necessary to add that local adaptations within 
the State must be very narrowly drawn. Our greatest failures 
have followed ill choice of location for the purpose intended. 
Whenever certain California fruits have been ill spoken of, they 
have been produced in the wrong places, or by ill-advised 
methods. It is possible, then, to produce both poor and perfect 
fruit of a given kind. It may be said this can be done anywhere 
by the extremes of culture and neglect, but to this proposition 
it must be added that in California equally excellent methods 
and care will produce perfection in one place and the opposite 
in another. One who seeks to know California well must under- 
take to master both its horticultural greatness and littleness; 
and so closely are these associated, and so narrow the belts of 
special adaptations, that there are many counties which have a 
range of products nearly as great as the State itself. 

It is hard for the stranger to realize this. It is difficult for 
him to believe that the terms '"northern" and "southern" have 
almost no horticultural significance in California; that northern 
fruits reach perfection, under proper conditions, at the south, 
and vice versa; that some regions of greatest rainfall have to 
irrigate most frequently; that some of greatest heat have sharp- 
est valley frosts; that some fruits can be successfully grown 
through a north and south distance of 500 miles, but cannot be 
successfully carried a few hundred feet of either less or greater 
elevation; that on the same parallel of latitude within a hundred 
miles of distance, from coast to mountainside, one can contin- 
uously gather marketable Bartlett pears for three months — not 
to mention the second crop, which is often of account on the 
same trees in the same season. 

Through the multitude of local observations, which seem 
perplexing and almost contradictory, it is possible to clearly dis- 
cern certain general conditions of both nature and culture, which 
may be briefly advanced as characteristically and distinctively 
Californian. 

The climate of the Pacific Coast is described by the meteor- 



IV/ij' Our Climate Is Mild. ii 

ologist as "insular or moderate," as contrasted with the "conti- 
nental or excessive" climate of the regions east of the Sierra 
Nevadas. The west coast of Europe is also insular in its cli- 
mate. The northern limit of an annual mean temperature of 
50° Fahr. is about 51° 30' of north latitude on western coasts of 
both Europe and America. But though there is this similarity 
in mean annual temperature, there is a decided advantage per- 
taining to our climate over that of west Europe in that our 
range of temperature is less; that is, extremes of heat and cold 
are nearer together, and changes are therefore much less ex- 
cessive. This characteristic of our local climates is due in the 
main to two great agencies, one active, bringing heat, the other 
passive, shielding us from arctic influences. 

First: Our proximity to the Pacific Ocean. For three 
hundred days in the year the air currents from this vast body 
of warm, placid waters flow over California, moderating summer 
heat and winter cold, and, impinging on the western slope of the 
Sierra Nevada, give to the foot-hills, up to a certain elevation, 
a valley climate and a valley range of products, as will be noted 
later. 

Second: Another agency contributing to the mild climate 
of the Pacific Coast consists in the mountain barriers upon our 
northern and eastern boundaries. Redding says it was Guyot 
who first called attention to the fact that the Sierra Nevada and 
the Cascade Mountains reach the coast of Alaska and bend like 
a great arm around its western and southern shore, thus shutting 
off or deflecting the polar winds that otherwise would flow down 
over the Pacific Coast States, while California has her own addi- 
tional protection from the north in the mountain arch which has 
its keystone in Mount Shasta 

CHIEF TOPOGRAPHICAL AND CLIMATIC DIVISIONS OF 
CALIFORNIA. 

California is usually divided into three main areas and cli- 
mates, each distinct in typical conditions and yet separated by 
regions, more or less wide, in which these conditions merge and 
influence each other. Dr. Robertson says*:— 

Isothermal lines which normally run east and west are, as they near 
the Pacific, deflected north and south, and define three distinct climatic 
belts. These may be named coast, valley, and mountain; and while they 
resemble each other in having only two seasons, they are dissimilar in other 
respects. These differences depend upon the topography of the country, 
and are of degree rather than of kind; aldtude, distance from the ocean, 
and situation with reference to mountain chains, giving to each region its 
characteristic climate. 



♦Report of State Agricultural Society, 1886, p. 322. 



12 



Local Characto's. 



How similar are the conditions which prevail in these belts 
may be learned from the data shown in the following table, 
which includes points separated by nearly the whole length of 
the State, the difiference in latitude of the extreme north and 
south points being seven or eight degrees. Thus, through a 
north and south distance great as that which separates the 
States of Georgia and New York, similar climatic conditions 
prevail in California. In the following table the averages are 
deduced from observations by the United States Weather Bu- 
reau observers for a long series of years: — 

Seasonal and Extreme Temperatures and Average Rainfall in 
Various California Regions, from the Records of the U. S. 
Weather Bureau, to the Close of i8q8. 



stations. 



Coast. 

Eureka 

San Francisco 

San Jose 

Salinas 

S'nta Barbara 

Los Angeles.. 

San Diego 

Valley. 

Redding 

Marysville 

Sacramento... 

Merced 

Tulare 

Colton 

Foot-hill. 

Auburn 



COUNTV. 



Humboldt 

San Francisco.. 

Santa Clara 

Monterey 

Santa Barbara.. 

Los Angeles 

San Diego 

Tehama 

Yuba 

Sacramento 

Merced 

Tulare 

San Bernardino 

Placer 





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104 


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98 


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117 


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63-4 


120 


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62.5 


80.6 


63-4 


64.1 


118 


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52.5 


62.4 


77.2 


65.6 


64.4 


114 


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1360 


46.9 


56.8 


74.6 


62.2 


60.1 


108 


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46.14 

23-31 
14-52 
14.58 
18.19 
18.31 
9.86 

34.60 

18.09 

20.56 
10.30 

7.00 

10.93 
32.55 



LOCATIONS FOR THE GROWTH OF DIFFERENT FRUITS. 

It is intended to describe as definitely as possible the loca- 
tions suitable for the growth of ditierent fruits in the special 
chapters given to those fruits, but there are a few general con- 
ditions which should be outlined. 

In discussing the choice of location for an orchard it is not 
intended to speak geographically. As has already been inti- 
mated, latitude, which is a prime factor in geography, is of ex- 
ceedingly sniall account as an indication of horticultural adap- 
tations in California. The fact becomes strikingly apparent 



77^1? Coast Climate. 13 

when it is known that the apple and the orange, fruit kings 
whose kingdoms He at opposite borders of the temperate zone, 
so far distant that one may be called semifrigid and the other 
semitropical, have in California utter disregard for the parallels 
of latitude, which set metes and bounds upon them in other 
lands, and flourish side by side, in suitable localities, from San 
Diego to Shasta. Impressive as this truth may be, it is not so 
startling as another fact, viz., that fruits, in suitable interior sit- 
uations, ripen earlier at the north than at the south — a complete 
reversal of the tenets of the geographer. 

It is apparent then that the selection of locations for or- 
chards must be made with a knowledge of special conditions 
governing the distribution of equal temperatures and other nat- 
ural agencies contributing to the development of fruit. This 
distribution, as has been intimated, is not by straight lines, as 
in parallels of latitude, but by curves, which proceed in various 
directions, governed chiefly by topography. These are curves 
of temperature, of rainfall, of elevation, of soil formation and 
deposit. Geography retires from authority; topography and 
climatography govern. 

Let these ruling conditions be reviewed, then, briefly: Fir-st, 
as to general areas; second, with reference to special situations 
and locations. 

COAST CLIMATE. 

The chief characteristics of the coast climate are equable 
temperature, increasing southward; summers cool and winters 
warm, as compared with the interior; abundant rainfall, decreas- 
ing considerably southward; a somewhat humid atmosphere, as 
compared with the interior; frequent fogs or overcast skies; 
prevailing westerly winds. 

The extension of coast influences toward the interior is 
governed by local topography. Coast valleys open to ocean 
winds are cooler and moister and demand hardier fruits than 
valleys sheltered by intervening ranges. Gaps and passes in the 
ranges are subject to winds of considerable force and low tem- 
perature, and are not generally favorable for fruit; on the other 
hand, situations sheltered on the north and west favor growth of 
fruit even though quite near the coast. Sometimes a distance 
of a few miles, sometimes a windbreak of natural forest or of 
planted trees, so modifies coast influences that fruits do well. 
Elevation on the sides of coast valleys secures similar results. 
For example, the floor of the Pajaro Valley is well suited for 
apples, late pears, cherries, plums, prunes, and berries (except 
gooseberries), while on adjacent hillsides peaches do well. 

In southern California, coast winds are warmer than in the 



14 Characters of Coast Regions. 

upper half of the State, but coast influences intrude farther, as a 
rule, because the hills near the coast in southern California are 
low; the high ranges, answering to the Coast Range of the upper 
part of the State, trending far into the interior. On the coast 
side of these ranges fruits ripen later than in sheltered interior 
points in the upper part of the State, but eastward of them, 
where soil and moisture favor, or irrigation is practised, extra 
early locations have been found. 

Some of the horticultural effects of the conditions prevail- 
ing on the coast may be described as follows: — 

Late Ripening of Fruits. — The late ripening of fruits in most 
parts of southern California has just been mentioned. Intru- 
sion of coast influences has the same effect at the north. 
Directly on the coast, at Pescadero, San Mateo County, for ex- 
ample, fruits ripen about a month later than in Santa Clara 
Valley, which is just across the Coast Range. Napa Valley, 
though about forty miles inland and sheltered by ranges of hills, 
still is sufficiently affected by coast influences to mature fruits 
considerably later than Vaca Valley, ten miles further east, be- 
yond a higher range, which completely bars out these influences. 
In Ventura County, in a canon sixteen miles from the ocean, 
and at an elevation of sixteen hundred feet, fruits ripen three 
weeks earlier than on the coast or in the valleys opening thereon. 

Failure of Certain Fruits. — Though killing frosts are few 
directly on the coast, the deficiency in summer heat and sun- 
shine renders souie fruits unsatisfactory. This is especially the 
case in the upper coast region. Grapes and figs ripen imper- 
fectly, while but a short distance back from the coast, in shel- 
tered situations, they do well. Elevation sometimes produces 
corresponding effects. The complete reversal of coast conditions 
by local topography is seen in the Happy Camp region, on the 
west side of Siskiyou County, and east of the range which is the 
eastern boundary of Del Norte County, the extreme north coast 
county of the State. Happy Camp is in a warm belt, at an ele- 
vation where peaches, apricots, and nectarines do well if irri- 
gated. The apricot at that latitude in ordinary situations is a 
failure, as it also is for a certain distance farther south along the 
coast. 

Pests and Diseases. — Certain blights are more prevalent 
under coast conditions. The scab blight of the apple, the curl- 
leaf of the peach, and some other blights, are prevalent on the 
coast and in coast valleys, on the river bottoms in the interior, 
and on the mountains, and less serious, or wholly absent, in the 
hot interior valleys. Some insects prefer the coast, notably the 
black scale, which, with the black smut which attends it, has long 
been a grevious pest of growers of olives and citrus fruits, and 



Valley Climate. 1 5 

has recently become prevalent on deciduous fruit trees in some 
regions. Directly under coast influences, moss and lichens 
gather quickly, and should be removed. Spraying with alkaline 
washes not only kills insects but cleans the bark from parasitic 
vegetable growth. Although fruit trees on the coast are not 
so subject to sunburn as in the interior, there is especial value 
in low heading to withstand winds; there should also be plenty 
■of room given the trees, that sunshine may have free access to 
warm the ground all around the tree. 

VALLEY CLIMATE. 

The characteristics of the interior valley climate are higher 
summer and lower winter temperatures than on the coast, the 
range of temperature being very nearly the same both north and 
south; rainfall abvmdant in the north and decreasing rapidly 
southward, so that as a rule the interior valleys in the south half 
of the State require irrigation; very dry air and almost constant 
sunshine, freedom from fogs and from dew in summer-time; 
winds occasionally strong, hot, and desiccating in summer and 
cold in winter. 

Local Modiftcatious. — The term "valley climate" is broad, 
and includes everything, from the coast to a certain elevation on 
the ' slope of the mountains. Certain small valleys protected 
from cold northerly winds and from fog-bearing westerly winds 
and open to the spring sunshine, have a forcing climate which 
produces the earliest maturing fruit of the season; earlier not 
only than the coast and the mountain but also somewhat earlier 
than adjacent locations in the broad, open valley. Slight ele- 
vation, even on the sides of small valleys, frequently secures 
freedom from winter frosts and ministers to earlv ripening. 
Elevation above sea-level on the rims of great valleys also secures 
similar results and gives rise to thermal belts in which semi- 
tropical fruits are successfully growing even as far north as Shasta 
County. On the floors of great valleys moderating influences 
are secured on the lee side of wide rivers and by planting on the 
river bank or on slightly elevated swells rather than on the level, 
open plain. The river bottom lands of the great valleys, though 
.subject to severe frosts, are freer from the effects of desiccating 
winds than the open plains; they are, however, more favorable 
to the spread of certain blights than the plains are. 

Some of the horticultural effef-^-s of valley conditions are as 
follows: Early ripening and perfection of summer and autumn 
fruits, owing to continual sunshine and dry air; forced maturity 
of certain late fruits, as apples and pears, which destroys char- 
acter and keeping quality; injury from sunburn and hot winds 



1 6 Foot-hill Climate. 

in summer, which seriously affect both fruit and foUage of some 
varieties; occasional injury to tender fruits (semitropicals) and 
to young trees of hardy fruits, which have been kept growing 
late in the season, from low temperature, which sometimes is 
reached suddenly on the floor of the valleys; freedom from some 
blights and insects which are prevalent on the coast, but not 
from others. Many of these minor troubles are, however, coun- 
terbalanced by the earliness, size, beauty, and quality of certain 
fruits, and by the most rapid and successful open-air drying of 
fruits, owing to high autumn temperature, the freedom from fog, 
dew, and generally from rain during the drying season. 

FOOT-HILL CLIMATE. 

Foot-hill climate is usually considered as a modification of 
valley climate. It has been shown that up to about two thou- 
sand five hundred feet, on the western slope of the Sierra Ne- 
vada, the seasonal temperatures are quite like those of the val- 
ley, but the rainfall increases about one inch for each hundred 
feet of elevation. There are, however, in the foot-hills, places 
where early spring heat and freedom from frost give very early 
ripening fruits, and other places at the same elevation where win- 
ter temperature drops below the valley minimum, and where late 
frosts also prevail. This is governed by local topography. In 
many of the small valleys among the foot-hills, bordering upon 
the great central valley of the State, and in the Coast Range as 
well, frosts are more severe than on the hills adjacent. The por- 
tions of these highland valleys most affected arc usually the very 
lowest, the moist lands of the creek bottoms, or the wet swales, 
where there are such. Growths on the black or dark-colored 
soils, which are so situated as to be well drained and warm, are 
liable to frost, while those on the red lands and those of a 
chalky or ashen hue escape. The direct rays of the sun upon 
the darker earth hasten the spring growth beyond that on soil of 
lighter color. Hence if, other causes combining, there comes a 
frost, the earlier vegetation of the dark land suffers more than 
adjoining lands of a different description. These sudden 
changes to either extreme occur on the low grounds of the foot- 
hills to a far greater extent than upon the surrounding hills and 
ridges, or in the broad valleys of the Sacramento and San Joa- 
quin. 

Of course the disposition of cold air to settle in low places 
and to flow down canons and creek-beds while the warm air 
rises and bathes the adjacent hillsides, has nuich to do with the 
frost in the hollow and the freedom from it on the hills, irrespect- 
ive of color or character of soil. The constant motion of the 
air on the slopes is also a preventive of frost, providing the gen- 



Mountain Climate. 17 

eral temperature is not too low. It is not uncommon to find in 
deeper valleys, protected against the western wind, flecks of 
snow and a wintry chill, with dormant veg-etation, while one 
thousand feet higher up the foliage is fast developing. 

MOUNTAIN CLIMATE. 

Above an elevation of two thousand five hundred to three 
thousand feet, conditions gradually intrude which resemble 
those of wintry climates. The tender fruits, the apricot, peach, 
etc., become liable to winter injury and give irregular returns, 
or, as greater elevation is attained, become wholly untrust- 
worthy. Early blooming of these fruits during warm spells 
which are followed by severe frosts, renders the trees unfruit- 
ful. At four thousand to four thousand five hundred feet the 
hardy apple and pear flourish, ripening late, and winter varieties 
possessing excellent keeping qualities. Here, however, winter 
killing of trees begins and locations even for hardy fruits have 
to be chosen with circumspection. 

There are elevated tracts of large extent among the Sierras, 
where the common wild plum, the choke-cherry, gooseberry, 
and California chestnut are produced abundantly. April frosts 
have killed the fruit of those same plums, transplanted to lower 
ground, while those left growing in their natural situation were 
quite unharmed. It has been observed that these plum trees, 
with other fruits and nuts in their original positions, invariably 
occupy the broad tops of the great ridges instead of the sides 
and bottoms of ravines or narrow, pent-up valleys. Follow 
nature in the choice of orchard sites (with due regard to a sup- 
ply of moisture in the soil, either natural or artificial) and little 
hazard attends the culture of the hardier fruits of our latitude 
among the highlands of the State than is incident to other 
seemingly more favored localities. The beauty and qualitv of 
these mountain fruits are proverbial. 

A RULE OF GENERAL APPLICATION. 

What has been thus suggested of the great variation of 
temperature conditions within narrow limits should lead to the 
conclusion that not only must the kind of fruit to plant be de- 
termined by local observation and experience but often varieties 
of these fruits must be chosen with reference to adaptation to 
local environment. For this reason it is impossible to com- 
pile tables of varieties suited for wide areas — and yet it is true 
that some varieties have shown themselves hardy and satisfac- 
tory under all conditions. These facts will be shown by the 
discussion which will be given to each of the different fruits. 



1 8 IV/ij' California Trees Rest. 

REST AND ACTIVITY OF FRUIT TREES. 

Indication has already been made of regions adapted to the 
growth of early and of late fruits. There is, of course, difference 
in the time of rest and of returning activity in blooming. On 
the mountains under wintry conditions the trees leaf out and 
bloom late, following more or less the habit of Eastern trees. 
In the foot-hills, the valleys, and the coast, there is less difference 
in time of rest and of leaf and bloom. Even in regions where 
there may be a month's difference in ripening of fruit, as, for ex- 
ample, in the Vacaville district, fifty miles inland, and in Berke- 
ley, two miles from the bay shore, trees bloom almost at the 
same date. The difference in ripening is due to- the higher tem- 
perature and fuller sunshine of the interior situation, which have 
a forcing effect, while the low temperature and dull skies of the 
summer on the coast retard maturity. 

The rest of the tree, in all save the mountain district, is not 
dependent upon the touch of frost, it comes rather from thirst 
than from cold. The immense weight of fruit, the vigorous 
Sfrowth of wood, and the exhaustion of moisture from the soil 
by the draught of the roots to compass this growth, are the chief 
causes which bring the sere and yellow leaf in California. It 
is not frost, for the petunias may be blooming and the tomato 
vines still green in the fields. But the time has come for a rest. 
The trees sleep; but it is merely as a nap at midday; the early 
rains wake them soon. The roots are active first, then the buds 
swell, and the blossoms burst /orth — sometimes as early as Jan- 
uary — the almond first heralding the advent of California spring- 
time. 

Sometimes this season of rest is too short for the good of 
the tree or vine. The early rains, when followed by a spring- 
like temperature, as sometimes happens, induce activity in the 
top as well as the root, and the tree is not in condition to with- 
stand cold weather, which may follow. It is probable that such 
stimulated activity, suddenly checked, is responsible for more 
ills to tree and vine than are usuallv attributed to it. 



CHAPTER II. 

WHY THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE SPECIALLY 
FAVORS TFIE GROWTH OF FRUIT. 

It was pointed out by the earliest students of meteorology, 
as related to horticulture, that perfect development of fruits de- 
pends upon certain atmospheric conditions, which are included 
in the term climate: First, temperature; second, light; third, 
humidity or atmospheric moisture, — considered wholly apart, 
from soil moisture. It was also shown that temperature and 
humidity should be equable, or as free as possible from excessive 
extremes or rapid changes. 

Obviously, the chief characteristics of the California climate 
are: First, freedom from extremes of low temiperature ; second, 
an abundance of sunshine; and third, an atmosphere with a low 
percentage of humidity. It will be interesting to introduce 
enough statistics to demonstrate tliese claims, and to cite rea- 
sons why these conditions are of special value to the fruit 
grower. 

THE OFFICE OF HEAT IN FRUIT PRODUCTION. 

Temperature conditions may preclude the success of a fruit 
tree either by destroying it outright, by dwarfing it, or by pre- 
venting it from ripening its fruit. Extremes of temperature 
accomplish the death of plants, and insufficient or excessive 
mean temperatures may prevent fruition without killing the 
plant. The first quality of the California climate to arrest the 
attention of fruit growers in the States east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains is the freedom from the effects of extremely low winter 
temperatures, to which is due the deplorable failure, in the east- 
ern and western States, of many of the fruit varieties from the 
west of Europe, and to escape which such zealous eflfort is now 
being put forth to secure hardy varieties of native and foreign 
origin. 

How slight is the injury from low temperatures in all parts 
of the State where fruit is largely grown may be seen from the 
following compilation of extreme low temperatures at different 
points approximately at the same latitude on the coast, in the 
interior valleys, and on the foot-hills. 

(19) 



20 Advantage of Ample Heat. 

Lowest Temperature at Several California Points. 



Coast and Coast Valleys. 



Eureka 

Cape Mendocino. 

Hydesville 

Napa 

San Francisco 

San Jose.. 

Gilroy.. 

San Miguel 

Los Angeles 

San Diego 



< 



Interior Valleys. 



20 Redding 

28 Red Bluff. ... 

24 Oroville 

20 'Marysville ... 

28 Sacramento. 

22 Merced 

20 Fresno 

17 Tulare City.. 

28 Colton... 

32 jPoway 



< 



18 
16 
20 
20 

19 

20 
18 

14 
22 
21 



Foot-hills. 



Colfax 

Auburn 

Lewis Valley 
Fall Brook." 



11 > 



16 



22 

27 



These records will show anyone familiar with winter killing 
of the leading orchard fruits that such disasters are not to be 
feared in the chief fruit regions of California. Local tempera- 
ture is largely controlled by local conditions, as has been already 
pointed out, and in the districts named in the table there are 
special locations where the lowest temperature probably differed 
a few degrees from the figures given. 

NECESSITY OF ADEQUATE SUMMER HEAT. 

Passing beyond the freedom from winter killing, it may be 
remarked that the influence of certain degrees of heat upon the 
growth of the plant and the perfection of its fruit, has been the 
subject of much close observation. Boussingault conducted 
careful experiments, and showed that a temperature above a cer- 
tain mininnmi of heat is fotind necessary for germination, an- 
other for chemical modification, and a third for flowering, a 
fourth for the ripening of seeds, a fifth for the elaboration of the 
saccharine juices, and a sixth for the development of aroma or 
bouquet. 

Originally the mean annual temperature was alone ob- 
served, and the polar limits of plants, it was presumed, could be 
thereby determined. More recently it was taught that the mean 
temperature of seasons is of more importance than that of the 
year, and it is believed that to the relative distribution of heat 
over the seasons rather than to the absolute amount received 
during the year, we are to attribute the fitness or unfitness of a 
region for the growth of certain kinds of vegetation. 

It is held in Etirope that the mean heat of the cycle of 
vegetation of the vine must be at least 59° Fahr., and that of 
the summer from 65° to 66° Fahr. It is stated to be impossi- 
ble, for instance, to cultivate the vine upon the temperate table- 



Slimmer hi Different Regions. 



21 



lands of South' America, where they enjoy a mean temperature 
of 62.6° to 66.2° Fahr., because these cUmates are characterized 
by a constancy of temperature, never rising to the higher heats 
necessary to the process of sugar forming, and the vine grows, 
and flourishes, but the grapes never become thoroughly ripe. 
Boussingault shows that, in addition to a summer and autumn 
sufficiently hot, it is indispensable that at a given period — that 
which follows the appearance of the seeds — there should be a 
month the mean temperature of which does not fall blow 66.2° 
Fahr. As will appear presently, this temperature test should no' 
be taken alone, but it will serve as a standard to show one fea- 
ture of the horticultural adaptation of the California climate. 
Boussingault claims the need of 66.2° F'ahr. for a single month. 
To be sure to include this, the following table gives the average 
summer temperature at the leading fruit-growing centers 
named : — 

Average Summer Temperature at Various California Points. 



Coast and Coast 
Valleys. 


Deg. 

Fahr. 


Interior Valleys. 


Deg. 
Fahr. 


Foot-hills. 


Eleva- 
tion. 


Deg. 
Fahr. 


Upper Lake 

Napa 


86.9 
69.6 
70.8 
66.2 
67.1 

65.9 
6q.7 


Redding 


81 

79 

78 

'7T.*7 


Auburn 

Colfax 


^,363 
2,421 
2,500 
1,290 
700 


74.6 
76 
85 
82 8 


Oroville 


Livermore 

San Jose 


Mar^sville 

Sacramento 


Georgetown 

Caliente.. 

Fall Brook 


Hollister 

Santa Barbara.. 


Merced 78.4 

Fresno 84.1 

Tulare 83.4 

Riverside nt.n 


68.2 


Los Angeles 








San Diego | 68.4 










^ 











These points are selected because the European varieties of 
the grape reach perfection in the Vicinity. Boussingault's meas- 
ure of fitness would condemn points directly on the coast where 
the summer temperature is approximately that of San Francisco 
(59.4°), and it has been found by experience that such a sum- 
mer temperature really does not favor the ripening of the grape, 
although early varieties may mature in sheltered places. The 
excess of heat above that required, as is found at all the interior 
points mentioned in the table, results in a very high sugar per- 
centage in the grapes, and contributes to the ripening of a sec- 
ond and third crop, as will be noted presently. The superior 
length of the growing season in California, of course, is an im- 
portant agency toward the same end. 



DIRECT SUNLIGHT ALSO A REQUISITE. 

Count de Gasparin was first to point out that not alone 
sufficient heat but abundance of continuous sunshine is a requi- 



22 Value of Clear Sunlight. 

site of perfection in fruit growth and ripening, and on his author- 
ity may be based a claim of exceptional value to the fruit grower 
in the months of cloudless skies wdiich are characteristic of the 
California summer. 

"The solar rays,'*' says GaspariUj "do not only produce heat 
but bring us light, and the effects of the heat and light rays differ 
in a very pronounced manner. Without light there is no fruc- 
tification; it is not necessary that the want of light should be 
complete that there should be a failure of fruits. In fact, dif- 
fused light alone does not suffice for the greater number of 
plants; cultivated plants will not ripen their seed without the di- 
rect rays of the sun, and the longer they are deprived of it the 
smaller the quantity wdiich they will mature."* 

Again, referring to the grape, for in connection with the 
growth of this fruit the most careful researches have been made, 
Humboldt wrote: "If to give a potable wine the vine shuns the 
islands and nearly all seacoasts, even those of the West, the 
cause is not only in the moderate heat of summer upon the sea- 
shore, but it exists more in the difference which there is between 
direct and diffused light; between a clear sky, and one veiled 
with clouds. "t 

It is noticeable that at the California coast points the aver- 
age cloudiness is almost twice that of the interior valleys, while 
at the East the interior fruit regions of western New York, 
Ohio, and Michigan, have a greater average cloudiness than the 
Hudson River, New Jersey, and Delaware regions near the 
Atlantic seaboard. The average cloudiness in the Eastern fruit 
regions is rather more than twice as great as in the regions of 
California where most fruit is grown. 

This excess of advantage, as it may be termed, in connec- 
tion with the high and protracted heat already mentioned, takes 
practical form in the successful ripening of a second and some- 
times a third crop of these grapes in a season, from later bloom 
on younger cane growth. Another indication of excess of advan- 
tage in the interior valley is found in the development of high 
sugar contents, which is of direct value in raisin production. 
The same tendency, though perhaps of less commercial value, is 
seen in the fact that some grapes which yield a good claret wine 
nearer the coast develop too much alcohol when grown in the 
interior. 

The advantage of California over Eastern and Southern fruit 
regions in the abundance of clear sunshine is shown by the rec- 
ords of the United States Weather Bureau in the following table. 



* Cours d'Agriculture, t. \\, p. 96. 
t Cosmos, t. I, p. 349. 



Cloudiness East and West. 



23 



Cloudiness is rated from o to 10, three observations daily, and 
the figures in the table are the averages from these daily obser- 
vations for a series of years: — 

Normal Cloudiness at California and Eastern Points for Nine- 
teen Years (1870-98), from the Records of the U. S. Weather 
Bureau. 





j: 


















MJ3 


CALIFORNIA. 


« 


a 

< 




m 

c 
3 
•— > 


3 
■—1 


M 

3 
< 


a. 
tn 






> 




2 c 

01 


Red Bluff 


4.4 

3-9 

4.8 


4.2 
3-5 
4-3 


3-6 
2.7 
4.2 


1.9 
1-5 
3.8 


I.O 


07 
0.4 

4-3 


1-3 
I.I 


2.4 


3-4 
2.8 


?,s 


Sacramento 


0.5 

4.3 


2.0 


?.o 


San Francisco 


3-5 


3-3 


3.8 


4.0 


Fresno 


4-3 
4.8 


2.9 

4.4 


2.7 
5.3 


1-5 
4.8 


0.7 

43 


09 

3-9 


1.4 

3-7 


2.2 


2.8 


? T 


San Diego 


3.8 


3-3 


4.2 


EASTERN. 






















Rochester, N. Y.. 


6.6 


5-4 


.S.2 


4.9 


4.6 


4.6 


4.9 


6.0 


7.6 


5.5 


New York, N. Y. 


.S-.S 


5-3 


5-2 


4-9 


5-0 


4.9 


4.7 


4-9 


5-2 


5.0 


Philadelphia, Pa. 


.S.6 


5-4 


5.1 


5.0 


.VO 


4.9 


4.8 


4.7 


5-2 


5.0 


Baltimore, Md 


54 


51 


5-1 


4.9 


4.8 


4.9 


4.7 


4.6 


4-9 


4.9 


Cleveland, Ohio.. 


6.4 


5-3 


4-9 


4.6 


4-3 


4-3 


4-9 


5-7 


7.3 


5.3 


Grand Haven, M. 


6.2 


5-4 


4.8 


4.6 


.3.« 


4.0 


4.4 


.S.6 


7-5 


5.1 


Jacksonville, Fla. 


4.2 


4.1 


4.1 


.S.I 


4.8 


4-9 


5-0 


4.2 


4-.S 


4.5 


New Orleans, La. 


4.8 


4.8 


4-3 


4-7 


4.9 


4-7 


4-3 


3-5 


4-5 


4.5 



RELATION OF ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY TO THE GROWTH 
OF TREES. 

There is another important condition of the climate of Cali- 
fornia which is intimately related to those which have been con- 
sidered, and which is to be credited with no small influence in 
the perfection of our fruits, and that is the low percentage of 
humidity which our atmosphere contains. In California the per- 
centage of humidity is high in the winter and low in the sum- 
mer; in tlie East the condition is just reversed. For this reason 
summer heat is far more oppressive in the East than in Califor- 
nia, and for the same reason certain serious fungoid diseases 
which prevail at the East, though found here in less injurious 
degree directly on the coast, are wholly unknown in the interior 
where the air is drier. The dry air also favors the access and 
action of light and heat, for Tyndall says that a sheet of vapor 
acts as a screen to the earth, being in a great measure impervious 
to heat. 

It is not necessary then that there should be clouds to lessen 
the chemical effects of sun heat in fruit ripening. Not only do 
clouds intercept sunshine, but watery vapor in the air — when to 
the eye the sun is bright as ever — can absorb a large quantity of 



24 



Value of Dry Air. 



the effective sun rays, and so retard fruit ripening. Hence an 
apparently sunny country which has much invisible watery vapor 
in the air, may prove defective in fruit-ripening qualities. 

It is true that air free from humidity allows rapid escape of 
heat by radiation as well as free access of it, and in dry air frost 
is more severe, but at the time of the greatest fruit growth, from 
June to October, radiation down to a frost point is prevented by 
other natural agencies. In the early spring and late autumn 
the humidity percentage rises again and checks radiation just 
at the time of the year when it is most desirable to have it 
checked. 

The following table, compiled from the records of the 
United States Weather Bureau, show^s the prevailing relative 
humidity in the East and South and in California: — 

Normal Relative Humidity at Eastern and California Points, 
1888 to i8q6, from the Records of the U. S. Weather Bureau. 



EASTERN 

stations. 



Jacksonville, Fla 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
Rochester, N. Y. 
Grand Haven, M 

St. Louis, Mo 

New Orleans, La. 
Galveston, Tex.. 

california 
stations. 

Los Angeles 

Fresno 

Sacramento 

Red Bluff. 



_ 


>, 


(U 




ti 






> 


















< 


% 




>-5 


•< 


<Sl 





Z 


72.3 


730 


77.6 


78.6 


80.9 


82.9 


79.8 


82.2 


63-4 


68.9 


69.2 


6S.6 


71.2 


75-2 


70.7 


73-6 


67.8 


68.6 


69.1 


67-3 


70.7 


75.2 


75-6 


76.2 


70.9 


71.4 


73-7 


69.0 


73.1 


750 


75-7 


79.1 


63.7 


67.8 


68. 8 


66.3 


67.3 


70.2 


65.9 


71. 1 


76.0 


74.2 


78.1 


78-3 


78.8 


77-3 


74.0 


79-4 


84.6 


78.0 


79-3 


77-4 


78.1 


77.2 


75.6 


80.4 


73-1 


75-2 


73-0 


75-4 


76.2 


72.9 


74-3 


66.6 


59-3 


52.7 


42.4 


34-7 


.347 


43-6 


55-1 


64.1 


67.6 


67.6 


66.1 


59.8 


.59.8 


590 


62 4 


66.8 


61.9 


56.8 


43-7 


3.5-6 


35-3 


43-6 


51.6 


60.7 






78.3 

70.1 
71-3 
73-5 
67.6 
78.0 
78.5 



73-3 
48.3 
63.6 
488 



THE THREE POINTS COMBINED. 



The three great advantages of the California climate, — 
abundant heat, continuous sunshine, and dry air, — taken in con- 
nection with the fitness of the soil and the great length of the 
growing season, insure the characteristic excellence of California 
fruit, and the early maturity, great growth, and abundant fruit- 
age of our trees and vines. Heat, sunshine, dry air, and a rain- 
less summer also minister directly to the curing of fruits in the 
open air. All things considered, it is doubtful whether any area 
of the world excels California in possession of natural adaptation 
to fruit production and preservation. 



A Long Groiinng Season. ■ 25 

A RECAPITULATION OF CALIFORNIA'S CLIMATIC ENDOWMENT. 

Through the multitude of local observations, which seem 
perplexing and almost contradictory, it is possible to clearly dis- 
cern certain general conditions of both nature and culture, which 
may be briefly advanced as characteristically and distinctively 
Californian. Of these, perhaps the most striking is the length 
of the growing season. 

Take, for instance, the peach in a good peach region. The 
bloom appears in February, followed by the grand foliage ex- 
panding to a leaf-si ^e, marvelous to one unused to such peach 
leaves. The shoots of new growth rush out with vigor, prom- 
ised by such a leaf, and yet the fruit below expands as though 
it would burst its skin in rapid enlargement — and still it grows. 
The new shoot, apparently weary of its several feet of extension, 
stops for a rest, and then, reviving, starts out its laterals — while 
still below the peach is growing. The laterals push out a foot 
or more — all carrying large, fresh leaves. While these are in 
full vigor, the fruit ripens, after having a full half-year's joint work 
pf root and foliage, if it is a late variety. Is it any wonder it 
weighs a pound? But still the tree is active. It forms its termi- 
nal buds, and then all along the new main shoots and their lat- 
erals are formed the leaf and blossom buds for the following year. 
Still the foliage holds green and active, if the moisture below 
be adequate, and the leaves seem loth to fall in the ninth month 
from the time of blooming". Is it any wonder California peaches 
are large and the trees require pruning and thinning to enable 
them to carry the weight produced in such a season of growth? 
And what has been said of the peach is true of other trees, ac- 
cording to their nature and habits. The trees themselves are 
more eloquent of California's conditions for growth than descrip- 
tions or statistical tables can be made. 

But the quality of the light and heat, if the term is admissi- 
ble, is a factor as well as their duration. The air, free, not 
alone from clouds, but from the insensible aqueous vapor which 
weakens sunshine in its efifort to serve vegetation in a humid 
climate, has a clearness and brilliance from its aridity which 
makes each day of the long, growing season more than a day in 
other climates, and thus adds to the calendar length of the grow- 
ing season. The surplus light and heat also act directly in the 
chemistry which proceeds in' the tissues of the plant, and we 
have not only size, but quality, color, aroma, — everything which 
makes the perfect fruit precious and beautiful beyond words. 

It is true that for commercial purposes it is not possible to 
allow this process to go too far, for its later effects are higher 
sweetness, accompanied by such juiciness that the fruit cannot 
endure transportation. But go to the tree to apply the only test 



26 Importance of Moderation. 

which can be fairly put to a juicy fruit, and the demonstration 
of the service of clear, unobstructed sunshine through an ade- 
quate period is complete. But if this can not be done, place the 
judgment upon the mature peach carefully sun-dried and intel- 
ligently cooked, or upon the ripe peach skilfully canned, and the 
distinctive adaptations of California for fruit production will dis- 
play themselves. 

But there are other agencies involved in the perfection of 
fruit than intensity and duration of heat and light. Without 
adequate moisture in the soil, the air which we have credited 
with such benign power in carrying heat and light for perfection 
of fruit would transmit the same as agencies for the destruction 
of the tree which bears it. If this moisture conies from rainfall, 
it descends at the time of the year when the tree is least active, 
consequently is least retarded by a clouded sky and moisture- 
laden air, and least affected by atmospheric disturbances. Strong 
storm winds find the tree with reefed sails, and able to endure 
pressure which would tear it to pieces if they came upon its grand 
spread of foliage on branches heavy with fruit. It is a priceless 
horticultural endowment that no tornado can pierce our protect- 
ing mountain-barriers, and that it is exceedingly rare that our 
local winds disturb the confident swaying of the branches and 
leaf movement beyond the activity which ministers to the sap 
flow. And if the adequate moisture is not from rainstorm, but 
by irrigation, the same facts remain, for the water reaches the 
tree without interrupting its aerial activity. Temperature is 
maintained, light is unobstructed, and the tree is refreshed with 
moisture without the chill and darkness which favor fungoid 
parasites. Of all the ways by which moisture could come to 
soils supporting fruit tree or vine, the natural by its time, and the 
artificial by its method, endow California with the best. 

The characteristics of the California climate which have 
been especially pointed out in this sketch are not propitious to 
fruit culture when they exist to excess'ive degree, as in some in- 
terior or continental climates. Local conditions of altitude, 
distance from the sea, and exposure to the sweep ot arctic winds, 
induce sudden and great weather changes, which are serious in 
their effects. Excessively low percentage of atmospheric humid- 
ity, in connection with desiccating wind, often produce greater 
evaporation from the leaves than the roots can supply. Exces- 
sively dry air admits a parching sun heat at one time, and at 
another facilitates radiation of heat, until the rapid decline in 
temperature makes killing frosts frequent. It is evident that 
California has these agencies constantly held in check by her 
insular situation and protecting environment, and owes her won- 
derful adaptation to growth of tree and perfection of fruit not 
more to the possession of certain conditions than to the fact of 
their existence in moderation. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE FRUIT SOILS OF CALIFORNIA. 

The favoring characteristics of the CaHfornia cUmates, 
which have been described, find their fitting complement in the 
adaptation of the CaHfornia soils to the perfect development of 
fruit-bearing tree and vine. In their wonderful variety and con- 
• sequent great range of special adaptations within narrow limits 
of area, our soils also resemble our climates. As a man may 
sometimes find within the boundaries of an ordinary-sized farm 
such a difiference of atmospheric conditions that the same fruit 
will thrive in one spot and not in another, so he may find differ- 
ences in soil which will tend to produce the same results. For 
this reason the precise spot in which to plant any given fruit 
must be chosen with regard to both soil and exposure. In the 
chapters devoted to the several fruits, there will be an attempt 
made to describe the soil requirements of each, so that the inex- 
perienced planter may not err seriously in choosing the location 
for each kind of fruit he desires to grow. While this is true, it 
will also appear in these special chapters that the choice of roots 
upon which to bud or graft gives the planter a certain latitude 
and independence. This is of greatest value in the planting of 
home orchards, or orchards for local markets, in regions where 
the soil is not what is usually preferred for fruit production. 
With proper choice of stocks and wisdom and diligence in culti- 
vation, one need hardly despair of growing good fruit on any 
soil which will support any laudable plant growth. And yet in 
commercial orcharding, the secret of which is producing most 
abundantly and cheaply, too great attention can not be paid to 
choice of specially-adapted soils. 

It is an interesting fact that more complete and exact knowl- 
edge exists of the soils of California than of any other State of 
the Union, and for this knowledge the public is indebted to E. 
W. Hilgard. Professor of Agriculture, and Director of the Agri- 
cultural Experiment Stations of the University of California. 
For the last twenty-five years he has given all the time he could 
spare from many other and pressing duties, to the examination, 
and, when needed, the analysis, of representative soil specimens, 
and to practical expositions of their nature, adaptations, and re- 

(27) 



28 Light and Deep Soils. 

qiiirements in the event of exhaustion from too long cropping. 
This information must be sought in a number of pubhcations, 
and no condensed outhne of the work in its present state is avail- 
able. Professor Hilgard has now (1899) in preparation a general 
treatise entitled "Soils: Their Formation, Properties, Composition 
and Relations to Climate and Plant Growth,'' which will natu- 
rally include the results of his long study of California soils and 
climates. It is the purpose of the writer to undertake a compila- 
tion, from these sources, of information which especially relates 
to the fruit soils of California, now known and used as such. 
. The plan will be to collate the descriptions of the soils and their 
.composition with the practical deductions therefrom, rather 
than the detailed analyses, for which the reader must be referred 
to the original source. 

DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS OF CALIFORNIA SOILS. 

One of the most interesting and important recent achieve- 
ments in soil investigation consists in demonstrating distinctive 
differences between soils formed under arid and under humid 
climatic conditions.* In the development of this subject certain 
distinctive characters of California soils clearly appear and they 
are of direct relation to the thrift, productiveness, treatment and 
longevity of fruit trees. These characters are: (a) lightness and 
consequent permeability and ease of cultivation ; ~ (b) depth, ad- 
I mitting exceptional root extension and penetration ; and (c) rich- 
ness, containing some kinds of plant food in considerably 
greater amounts than are found in the soils of humid regions. 
These characteristics as demonstrated by Professor Hilgard may 
be outlined in this way with special reference to their relations 
to fruit growing. 

Lightness. — California soils predominantly exhibit the sandy, 
silty or pulverulent nature of all soils formed under arid condi- 
tions, save in case of pre-existing clay formations of former geo- 
logical epochs, as well as back-water deposits of the present 
epoch, all of which are substantially independent of climate. 
While "sand" in the humid regions means virtually quartz grains 
only, in the arid country it means very largely grains and pow- 
der of the other soil-forming minerals as well. While, therefore, 
in the humid region, sandy land as a rule means poor land, in 
the arid, on the contrary, sandy lands are at least as desirable 
as heavier oiies, both on the score of high productiveness, dura- 
bility and ease of cultivation, together with ready resistance to 
drouth. 

Depth. — Another point of great importance is that the dif- 
ference between soil and subsoil, which is so strikins: and im- 



* Rep. Cal. Exper. Stations, 1893-4, P- 100. 



Value of Lightness aiid Depth. 29 

portant in regions of abundant rainfall, is largely obliterated in 
• arid climates. Very commonly hardly a perceptible change of 
tint or texture is found for depths of several feet; and what is 
more important, material from sucli depths, when thrown on the 
surface, oftentimes subserves the agricultural uses of a soil 
nearly or quite as well as the original surface soil. The uncon- 
cern with which irrigators proceed to level or otherwise grade 
their land, even though this may involve covering up large areas 
of surface soil with subsoil from several feet depth; the rapidity 
with which the red loam of the placer mines of the Sierra Nevada 
foot-hills is re-covered with the natural forest growth of the re- 
gion, etc., are examples familiar to the residents but surprising 
to newcomers, who are accustomed to dread the upturning of 
the subsoil as likely to deprive them of remunerative crops for 
several years, until the "raw" subsoil has had time to be "vital- 
ized" by the fallowing efifect of the atmosphere, and to acquire 
the needful amount of humus or vegetable mold. Thus the sur- 
face soil, which in the humid regions supplies the bulk of the 
nourishment, becomes here of minor importance, serving chiefly 
as a mulch to prevent waste of moisture; while the active process 
of nutrition occurs in the deeper portion of the soil stratum, 
whose composition, as well as condition of disintegration and 
aeration, is substantially the same as above. The second foot is 
rarely found to differ materially from the first, even as to humus 
content; for the latter, being almost exclusively derived from tne 
humification of roots, the leaves and herbage on the surface 
being mostly oxidized away under the intense heat of summer; 
it not unconunonly happens in very porous soils that the first six 
inches of surface soil are poorer in humus than the second foot. 
Practical Results of Lightness and Depth. — The "lightness" 
and perviousness of the prevailing soils of the arid region per- 
mit of the penetration of roots to depths which in the humid 
region are inaccessible to them on account of the dense subsoils, 
which prevent the needful access of air. This deep penetration 
enables even annual plants to avail themselves directly of the 
stores of moisture in the substrata, at depths which in the humid 
region are scarcely reached save by the tap-roots of some per- 
ennials and trees; while the latter themselves reach depths never 
approached by them in the region of summer rains. Professor 
H ilgard has personally found the ends of the roots of grape-vines 
at a depth of twenty-three feet, in a gravelly clay-loam; and from 
ten to fifteen feet are ordinary depths reached by the root system 
of fruit trees. Such depth of rooting, Avhen conservatioii of 
moisture is secured by proper surface cultivation, enables decid- 
uous fruit trees to grow thriftily and bear fine fruit through six 
months of drouth while as many weeks of drouth may bring 



30 SoiV Classification. 

distress and loss of fruit to surface-rooting trees on the shallow 
soils of the humid region. 

Richness. — The foregoing conditions are rendered the more 
significant and effective through the third characteristic of soils 
formed in arid climates. The average aggregate amounts of 
plant-food ingredients are markedly greater in the arid than in 
the humid soils, wherever their derivation is at all generalized. 
Among the agriculturally important ingredients contained in 
larger average amounts in the arid soils than in the humid, lime 
stands foremost; its percentage in soils not derived from cal- 
careous formations being from twelve to fourteen times greater 
in the arid than in the humid soils. Magnesia follows lime in 
this respect, but the average difference is only about half as 
great. The average content of potash in the arid soils exceeds 
that in the humid in about the proportion of one to three or four. 
But no such constant difference exists in respect to phosphoric 
acid. As regards humus, and the nitrogen of which it is the 
carrier and reservoir, its amount is usually considerably less 
than in the humid soils; but the total nitrogen percentage does 
not differ widely, because the humus of arid soils contains, on the 
average, from three to five times as much nitrogen as is found 
in the humus of humid soils, and therefore, the supply of soil 
nitrogen is very nearly the same in both regions, while from 
several causes, the humus-nitrogen of arid soils is more available 
to plants. 

CL.\SSIFICATION OF CALIFORNIA SOILS. 

Any attempt to classify the soils of California upon scientific 
lines or even to describe them in their wonderful variety, accord- 
ing to their geographical occurrence, would lead beyond the 
limitations of a treatise upon the practise of fruit growing. 
Rather let an attempt be made to designate certain grades of soil 
with brief characterization of their leading features as they are 
related to the growth of fruits. By such a course it may be 
made to appear that though the soils of the State are pre- 
dominantlv light, deep, and rich and thus eminently fitted for 
fruit growing, there are many degrees in the possession of these 
characters or any of them, in local soils, and upon this indivfdual 
manifestation they rate all ihe way from perfection to defective- 
ness. Let a classification proceed then upon a descending scale. 

Light, Deep Loams. — Admixture of clay with enough coarse 
materials to secure permeability to air and water, ease in culti- 
vation, deep root penetration and free drainage of surplus water, 
produces soil of the highest adaptability to the growth of fruit 
trees and vines. These soils are popularly known as loams. 
They are designated as sandy loams, medium loams and clay 



Norther-n Valley Loams. 31 

'loams, according to the proportion of clay commingled with the 
sand or coarse materials. 

Professor Hilgard has devised the following nomenclature 
of soils based upon their content of clay: Sandy soils, less than 
five per cent of clay; sandy loams, from five to ten per cent; 
ordinary or medium loams, from ten to fifteen per cent; clay 
loams, from fifteen to twenty per cent; clay soils, from twenty to 
fifty per cent of clay. 

The coarse materials are sand grains of various sizes or rock 
particles in various degrees of disintegration. The fine materials 
are clay and rock powder, commonly designated as fine silt. 
Loam soils may result from deposits by flowing water or may 
consist of debris but little removed from local rock disintegra- 
tion. They include a wide variety of materials but agree in the 
possession of striking adaptability to fruit culture. Some of the 
leading instances of such soils may be cited. 

Loams of the Valley Plains. — On the east side of the Sacra- 
mento Valley low ridges and swales at right angles to the river's 
course come in from the foot-hills, forming a gently undulating 
plain with a fall of from fifteen to twenty feet per mile, some- 
times right up to the river channels. Nearly all the soils of the 
east side have a reddish tinge, showing the admixture of the red 
foot-hill soil, and demonstrating, by the way, that all these lands 
are well drained. In cuts ten to twelve feet deep, made by the 
sloughs, the reddish plains loam is seen to reach from six to ten 
feet depth, being then underlaid by gravelly substrata. The width 
of this class of profusely fertile valley land, east and west, varies 
considerably, according to the meanderings of the rivers. Away 
from the water courses, the higher lands of the valleys are 
largely red or yellow loams, sometimes clayey and dif^cult of 
cultivation imless taken just in the right condition, sometimes 
gravelly and apt to dry out unless the natural water supply is 
supplemented by irrigation, but mostly a free-working, fairly re- 
tentive, light loam, very satisfactory for some kinds of fruit. 

The soils of the San Joaquin Valley have, as a rule, a much 
greater admixture of sand than those of the Sacramento Valley; 
there is also a more distinct subdivision of the valley lands into 
upland or "bench" lands, and lowland or alluvial lands proper. 

Upon the upland or plains soils, especially of Fresno and 
Tulare Counties, wonderful progress in fruit-growing by irriga- 
tion has been made during the last few years. Though its sum- 
mer aspect is most forbidding and almost desert-Hke in lack of 
vegetation, the application of water has shown exceptional 
quickness of growth, early bearing, and lavish productiveness of 
tree and vine. These plains loams vary in appearance, and are 
from this fact locallyx named, "reddish loam," "white ash," and 



32 Southern Valley Loams. 

"sand hill." All are distinctly calcareous. Even in the case of 
the latter, which is the lightest and is made of almost ninety per 
cent of inert sand, it is so deep and has its plant food in such 
highly available condition that it is producing very large crops 
of fruits where there is no rise of the bottom water to prevent 
root penetration. In the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada there 
are some loose loams of light color resulting from the decompo- 
sition of granite, but they are as a rule inferior to the red foot- 
hill soils, which are more clayey, and will be mentioned among 
the clay loams later. 

The soils prevailing in the valley of southern California, from 
Redlands at its head to Los Angeles at its opening out toward 
the sea, consist chiefly of granitic sand, which at some points 
on the slopes forms the soils exclusively, but everywhere con- 
stitutes a prominent ingredient of the valley and mesa lands. 
These mesa lands are conspicuous for their orange-red tint, and 
the red sandy loam of which they are composed, to depths vary- 
ing from ten to as much as eighty feet, is evidently the choice 
soil for orange culture. It is manifest that at some remote epoch 
it filled the entire valley. Of the middle portion much has been 
washed away, but islands of it form red-land tracts of greater or 
less extent all over the region, traversed by and more or less 
commingled with, the granitic wash from the valleys and can- 
ons of the Sierra Madre. The latter frequently consists largely 
of gravel, and were it not for the luxuriant natural vegetation 
borne by these gravel beds, few would have thought of devoting 
them to the costly experiment of orange planting, which, never- 
theless, has proved eminently successful even on these unpromis- 
ing-looking masses of debris. In the upper valley (San Bernar- 
dino Valley proper) the red loam is conspicuous, and gives its 
name to the flourishing settlement of Redlands, on the terminal 
slope; but the heavy flow of water from the upper cafions, nota- 
bly from that of the Santa Ana Ri\er, has scoured it out of the 
valley itself, and left there, at least on the northern portion, gray 
and blackish granitic loams of great depth and productiveness, 
underlaid, and therefore underdrained, by the enormous gravel 
beds that hold the artesian water of this favored region. 

The reddish mesa soils prevail through the smaller southern 
California valleys as well, and are similar in character, as they 
are derived from similar geological formations. 

Where the surface descends gradually to the seashore, and 
not in bluffs, there are, as in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, 
coast flats several miles in width, where the soil is a dark-colored 
sandy loam, glistening with scales of mica, and more or less 
affected with alkali in the lower portions. Similar soils are 
found in tracts of greater or less extent up the coast as far as 




■\. ^ 



Alluvial Soils. 33 

Santa Barbara at least. As a rule, these seashore lands are very 
productive, but fruits for them must be chosen with reference to 
their low level and exposure to coast influences. 

The light loams of the so-called desert region of southern 
California are not inferior in productive capacity to some of the 
best soils of the great valley, which it greatly resembles, save in 
the scarcity of humus, or vegetable matter. Only a detailed 
survey, however, can determine the tracts having an arable soil, 
as against those overrun by arid sand. The soil of the Colorado 
River bottom is highly productive, easily worked, being cjuite 
light. It is a highly calcareous soil, and is likely, whenever the 
water of the Colorado River shall be made available for irriga- 
. tion, to yield rich returns for cultivation. 

The valleys of the seaward slope of the Coast Range have 
mostly gray, light, and silty, rather than sandy soils, quite sim- 
ilar in appearance from Ventura to Humboldt County, though 
differing considerably in composition, those of the southern 
region being more calcareous, and apparently richer in phos- 
phoric acid; as the coast region consists for the most part of low 
ranges with intervening valleys, the valleys are, as a rule, small, 
though a few show considerable area. In such a country the 
soil surface shows wide diversity Avithin smaller areas than on 
the vast stretches of the great interior valley; consequently, so 
far as soil goes, the coast farms are often suited to a wider range 
of fruits than the interior valley farms of similar size. 

ALLUVIAL OR SEDIMENTARY LOAMS. 

These soils have been considered from the earliest plantings 
by Americans as par excellence the fruit soils of the great valley 
of central and northern California. They occur along the 
courses of existing streams, and extend back to variable dis- 
tances, until they merge into the valley loams, or adobes. These 
deposits are considerably higher than the present beds of the 
streams, and are sometimes described as "next to river bottom." 
They consist of fine alluvium, with seldom any admixture of 
coarse materials. These river soils are usually very deep, and 
they are naturally well drained. 

These deposits cross the valley in somewhat irregular 
courses ; they are of greater or less w^idth according to the drain- 
age area whence they have come. They vary also in depth, 
and taper down on either side to the level of the red loam or 
adobe upon which they have been deposited. Such strips are 
first chosen by the fruit planters of the district in which they 
occur. In the valleys of the rivers crossing the eastern side of 
the San Joaquin Valley, there are, bordering the streams as 
well as Tulare Lake, considerable areas of brown to blackish 



34 Clay Loams. 

loam varying from heavy to light, but for the most part easily 
tilled and exceedingly rich. Considerable fruit has been grown 
for years on these situations, and some kinds do well on these 
bottoms which do not show adaptation to the plains. Some 
even of the higher lying portions of these "black lands" support 
thrifty orchards without irrigation. The wider stretches of allu- 
vial soils in the upper part of the valley, as in the Mussel Slough 
country and the Visalia region, for instance, are notably well 
adapted to fruit growing. The occasional intrusion of alkali, 
which must be carefully avoided, is the chief obstacle to the gen- 
eral approval of these alluvial lands for fruit purposes. 

Soil of similar character is found in some small valleys con- 
sisting of an alluvial wash from the bordering hills which in some 
places reaches a depth oi thirty feet or more without notable 
change in character. Such soils have proved very fertile and 
durable. 

In the coast valleys of the State there are also very exten- 
sive areas of alluvial soils which are largely used in fruit produc- 
tion, as well as upland loams formed in place by the disintegra- 
tion of local rock formations. The famous fruit region extending 
from Oakland southward nearly one hundred miles, including 
the Alameda and Santa Clara Valleys, has very large areas of 
alluvial soil, ranging from deep, rich blackish loams used for 
vegetables and small fruits, to lighter loams resulting from inter- 
mixture of sediment brought by streams from adjacent hill- 
sides with the clay of the valley bottom. It is to these deep, 
rich alluvial deposits that the region owes its great reputation 
in fruit lines. 

Below the "river banks" sedimentary soils, which is another 
name for the soils previously considered, lies the rich river bot- 
tom, adjacent to the beds of the main rivers and sloughs of the 
valley. It is usually a dark, rich, and moist soil, easily tilled and 
not subject to baking and cracking. It is largely used for the 
growth of vegetables and alfalfa, but considerable areas have 
been planted with fruit trees, especially with pears, which do 
not suffer from submergence of their roots for considerable time. 

CLAY LOAMS. 

Of loams containing sufficient clay to render them some- 
what heavy and tenacious, there is also a great variety in Cal- 
ifornia. Their suitability for different fruits depends upon selec- 
tion of roots adapted to their character and upon the depth and 
degree of retentiveness of the soils themselves. They are more 
difficult of tillage than the free loams, but offer some compensa- 
tion therefor in their richness and durability. 



Clay Soils. 35 

Clay Loams of the Foot-hills and Valley Border.^-The soils 
of the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, throughout its course 
along the great valley, vary from a moderately clayey loam to 
a heavy, though not uncommonly gravelly, often orange-red 
clay. This character seems to be sensibly the same, whether the 
soil be derived from the decomposition of the ancient slate bed- 
rock or directly from the dark-colored granites, thus creating 
a presumption that the two rocks are closely related. The soils 
are highly charged with iron to the extent of from seven to over 
twelve per cent, which being finely divided, imparts to them the 
intense orange-red tint. The soils of the foot-hills agree with 
the soils of the valley in having a good precentage of lime, while 
the supply of potash and phosphates, as well as of organic mat- 
ter, is smaller, and sometimes low, though never apparently 
inadequate for present productiveness, in the presence of so 
much lime. 

Along the base of the foot-hills of the Sierra there is in 
Fresno, Tulare, and part of Kern County, a belt of reddish or 
brown loam soils, corresponding to those similarly located in 
the Sacramento Valley, but generally more clayey, and hence 
frequently designated as adobe by contrast with the very sandy 
soils of the valley at large, although properly they should be 
classed simply as clayey loams. This belt is eight to ten miles 
wide in middle Tulare County, and narrows to the north and 
south. Here these lands have a gentle slope of ten to twenty 
feet per mile from the base of the foot-hills, and appear to be 
underlaid at a depth of twelve to fifteen feet by water-bearing 
gravel. The soil is a reddish, more or less sandy, loam, chang- 
ing little in its aspect for several feet. Its adaptation to fruit is 
shown by the products of the Porterville region. 

CLAY SOILS. 

Thus far a very small area of true adobe* soil has been 
employed in horticulture. There is a great difiference in the 
character of what is known as adobe in different localities. Its 
color varies, as the popular terms "black waxy," "black," 
"brown," and "gray" adobe indicate. Its physical condition and 
chemical composition also vary greatly. The black adobe of 
the east side of the Sacramento Valley is easily tilled as com- 
pared with the gray adobe on the west side, which is very refrac- 
tory and often largely impregnated with alkali. To render soil 
of adobe character useful for fruit growing, this tendency tO' dry 
out and crack, thus allowing evaporation from below as well as 

*This name has been erroneously applied to the loam commonly used in the construction 
of adobe houses. Agriculturally, it means "a heavy clay soil," such as could not be used in 
building. 



36 Defective Soils. 

from the surface, must be overcome. The discussion of this 
point belong-s to the chapter on "CuUivation." Adobe soils are, 
as a rule, rich and durable and therefore promise long fruitful- 
ness to trees and vines with roots adapted to heavy soils, but 
difficulty of cultivation, excessive retention of water, and other 
evils are always present. Some suggestions on the treatment 
of such soils will be given in the chapter on fertilization. 

DEFECTIVE SOILS. 

Although California soils are predominantly of the depth, 
lightness and richness best suited to the growth and bearing of 
fruit trees and vines, it should always be borne in mind that 
there are marked exceptions, and failure to observe this fact 
has resulted in considerable disappointment and loss. There 
is in California much land which is bad from a horticultural 
point of view^ and it is apt to occur even in the vicinity of lands 
of the highest excellence. It is, therefore, necessary to advise 
that the closest examination be made before investment be made 
in the planting of fruits. 

Although there are instances of deficiency in plant food in 
California soils and considerable areas of land sterile through 
excess of saline and alkaline salts, these are usually indicated by 
the local reputation of the tracts, if the newcomer will take pains 
to make inqviiry. It is rather the more obscure, subsoil condi- 
tions which lead to loss or failure, and the}^ may be unknown 
even to men who have owned or farmed the land for years for 
ordinary field crops. These defects are, in the main, three: — 

Hard-pan. — Good loams may be underlaid near the surface 
by hard-pan or by layers of heavy clay. These prevent root 
penetration; they also limit moisture reception to the shallow 
surface layer, which is apt to become water-logged for lack of 
drainage during the rainy season or by excessive irrigation, and 
to quickly lose its moisture by surface evaporation in the dry 
season, with no compensation from the tight layer below. In 
such a situation, then, the plant may suffer severely from excess 
of water at one time of the year and lack of it at another. Such 
lands may serve w^ell for some of the small fruits, but not for 
trees or vines. Under certain circumstances the defects of these 
soils may be corrected, as will be suggested in the chapter on 
preparing lands for planting. 

Lcachy Subsoils. — Good loams are also occasionally under- 
laid by layers of coarse sand or gravel, through which water 
flows away beyond the reach of roots which will only make 
measured progress through such materials. Trees in such situ- 
ations are apt to come into distress in the dry season and can 
only be comforted by frequency and volume of irrigation and 



Hotv to Find Defects. 37 

fertilization, which are out of proportion to the returns they are 
able to make. 

Rise of Ground Water. — Good fruit lands are also occasion- 
ally rendered defective by the rise of the ground water toward 
the surface so that only a shallow layer is left for root extension 
— the evil being aggravated by the fact that a temporary fall of 
the ground water induces deeper rooting, which a subsequent 
rise of the water destroys, and decay of the roots ensues. This 
trouble has occurred over large areas where excessive irrigation, 
or the course of leaky ditches, on higher lands, has filled the 
lower levels to such an extent that there is actual outcropping 
of swamps in the swales. The cure for these conditions is, 
obviously, drainage, which it is not always possible to secure 
at a warranted outlay. 

Alkali. — Connected with this rise of the ground water the 
alkali evil may intrude. But little trouble arises from this cause 
in the high-lying, sandy tracts, where irrigation or the natural 
rainfall carries the soluble salts annually into the country drain- 
age; but in the low-lying and less pervious soils of swales and 
valley troughs, which are at the same time intrinsically the 
richest in available mineral plant food, the accumulation fre- 
quently causes considerable trouble and difficulty.* 

Prospecting for Soil Defects. — The University Experiment 
Station at Berkeley, undertakes to advise planters concerning the 
character of the land they propose to use. For subterranean 
prospecting. Professor Hilgard commends a steel rod not less 
than a quarter of an inch in diameter (round or square, prefer- 
ably the latter), well pointed at one end, and provided at the 
other w^ith a stout iron ring for the reception of a stout cross- 
handle, such as is used for post-hole augers. With such a prod, 
or sounding-rod, not less than five feec in length, the explora- 
tion of the subsoil for hard-pan or dense clay layers becomes a 
matter of a few minutes. It is easy also to detect thus the pres- 
ence of underlying layers of quicksand, gravel, or other loose 
materials through which irrigation water would waste, or which 
would prevent the rise of bottom water within the reach of 
plant roots, by the large interspaces between their grains. Any 
remaining doubts as to the nature of such underlying materials 
at particular points can then quickly be solved by the use of a 
post-hole auger or by digging, as thorough inspection and the 
taking of samples for each foot of depth may be found desir- 
able. 



* University publications on alkaline soils and their treatment may be had by application 
to Agricultural Experiment Station, Berkeley. 



CHAPTER IV. 
THE WILD FRUITS OF CALIFORNIA. 

The wild fruits of California are numerous, and for the 
most part peculiar to the region, being either of local genera or 
local species of m.ore widely distributed genera. Very few are 
identical with the wild fruits common to great areas of the con- 
tinent. For this reason our wild fruits constitute a very inter- 
esting subject for botanical study, and they are now, perhaps 
more widely than ever before, attracting the attention of botan- 
ical pomologists. Viewed from the standpoint of practical 
pomology or horticulture, our wild fruits can not be claimed, 
on the whole, to have attained any very great importance. 

A few fruits, as will be noted further on, have demonstrated 
tiieir culinary or household value, and are locally sought for, 
but none have any notable commercial value. This may be due 
to the fact that some of our most delicious wild fruits are very 
exacting in their choice of conditions, and can not be moved far, 
even within the limits of our own State, and presumably would 
not take kindly to longer journeys. 

Another reason why we have made little of our own wild 
species is found in the fact that our climate favors the superior 
growth of the best improved fruits of nearly all parts of the 
world. Therefore, we have little occasion for recourse to the 
miprovement of local wild fruits, because of superior hardiness 
and adaptation, as has been done in other parts of the country. 
Neither fruit planters nor propagators have given any special 
attention to the wild growths, either for fruit or for stocks, 
although a beginning has been made in both these directions, 
which may ultimately attain importance. The horticulture o1 
California wild fruits is a thing of the future. 

The distributions of our wild fruits is determined by limita- 
tions of areas of similar climatic conditions. In a general way 
ii: may be said that fruits are most abundant in foot-hill and 
mountain regions, and that our great valleys have always been 
practically destitute of them, except along stream borders. 
These fruits are most abundant in the northern portion of the 
State, but some exist throughout the State, usually thriving at 
higher elevations as they proceed southward. 
(38) 



IVi/d Plums and Cherries. 39 

Oregon Crabapple (Pyrus rividaris). — This fruit, though more 
abundant in the more northerly regions of the coast, as its name 
indicates, is found in the northwest counties of this State. It 
chooses a moist situation, becomes a tree fifteen to twenty-five 
feet high, shows white bloom, and red or yellow oblong fruit, 
about half an inch long. The flavor is rather acid, but the fruit 
is eaten by the Indians, and v/as sometimes used for jelly-making 
by early settlers. 

Wild Plum {Primus subcordata). — This must be regarded as 
one of the most useful of our wild fruits. Even now, when the 
plum varieties of all the world have been introduced, residents 
in some of the Sierra regions, where an excellent variety (Kel- 
iGggii) abounds, prefer it to the cultivated fruit, both for eating 
and preserving and jelly-making. The typical species is widely 
distributed over the mountainous regions of the State, and is a 
low shrub with white bloom and fruit three-quarters of an inch 
long, of red color and inferior pulp. The better variety has a 
narrower range, forms a larger shrub, and bears a yellow fruit, 
larger and better than the typical species. Some attempts have 
been made to improve this variety by cultivation and selection 
of seedlings, and the results are promising, as fruit has been 
shown at our fairs notably better than the wild gatherings. The 
roots have also been used to some extent as stocks, but seem 
to possess no marked advantage. Mr. Felix Gillet, of Nevada 
City, reports that grafting an improved plum on the wild stock 
seems to cause the root to grow to much greater size than 
natural to it. Observation upon grafted and non-grafted seed- 
lings in the same nursery row convinced him of this behavior. 
Other experimenters have condemned the stock because of 
dwarfing and suckering. In early days the wild plums in the 
mining regions of the mountains were largely made use of and 
are highly praised by pioneers. 

Oso Berry (Osmaronia cerasiformis). — This fruit is sometimes 
called the "California false plum." It has a plum-like form, and 
is of a rich, blue-black color, but is bitter, though not disagree- 
able to birds and animals, which feed upon it. The white bloom 
of the shrub has an almond odor. Used as a stock, the plum 
varieties grafted upon it have been dwarfed. 

Wild Cherries (Primus sp.). — Quite a group of wild fruits 
come under this generic grouping, and they have marked and 
widely dilTerent characteristics. One (Pruniis dcmissa') closely 
resembles the Eastern choke-cherry, and bears its round, red, or 
dark purple fruit on a raceme. It is used for marmalade by 
housewives in the mountain districts. This species has proved 
of some utility both for its fruit and as a stock for grafting in 
early days when better cherry stock was not available. Another 



40 H^iVd Grapes and Berries. 

species (Pruuiis ili'ci folia) has evergreen foliage, and is a useful 
hedge plant. 

Of species bearing fruit in umbels, or true cherry style, we 
have two. Prunus cmarginata makes a handsome tree, some- 
times thirty feet high, but its oval,, dark red fruit is quite bitter 
and astringent. Another species bears bright red fruit, intensely 
bitter. 

California Grape (Vitis Calif arnica). — Along our streams the 
native grape-vine attains large size and fruits freely, the fruit 
resembling the "frost grape" of the East. The vine frequently 
covers and sometimes kills large trees with the density of its 
foliage. Some variation is reported in the species, but it is pos- 
sible' that some of the better kinds are seedlings from some 
imported species, bird planted. The species has attained some- 
thing of a reputation as a phyloxera-resisting root for grafting, 
but it has proved exacting in its choice of soils and situations, 
and otherwise not desirable, and some Eastern species are now 
relied upon for tliis service. 

Elderberry {Samhucus glaiica). — The elderberry makes a fine 
tree in California, sometimes twenty feet or more in height, and 
with a trunk a foot and a half in diameter. The fruit is borne 
in large quantities and is used to some extent for preserves and 
pastry. 

Raspberries (Rubus sp.). — In the mountains of the eastern 
part of the State is a scarlet hemispherical berry of pleasant 
flavor, which is called "thimbleberry" {Rubus parviflorus). It 
seems to have an advantage over a variety {velntinus) of the same 
species which is found near the coast and has a dry, insipid fruit. 
Another raspberry, which is found in all hilly and mountainous 
regions, both on the coast and in the interior, is Rubus leuco- 
dermis. It resembles the black-cap raspberry of the Atlantic 
slope, except that it has yellowish-red fruit. This fruit is quite 
largely gathered for domestic uses, and some efiforts have been 
made to cultivate the plants. 

Salmon Berry {Rubus spceiabilis). — The beauty, size, and 
delicious flavor of this fruit are highly commended by all who 
have enjoyed it in the upper coast counties of California and 
farther northward. The plant makes a strong bush, five to ten 
feet high, and it delights in woods and shady banks of streams. 
The praise of all who know the fruit has led to frequent attempts 
to introduce the plant to warmer and drier parts of the State, but 
such efiforts have thus far uniformly failed. 

Wild Blackberry (Rubus viiifolius). — This fruit should per- 
haps be called a "dewberry."' as it has a trailing, or, at most, but 
partially raised stems, which extend from five to twenty feet. 
The plant occurs abundantly on banks of streams and other 
sufficiently moist locations, both in the coast and interior regions 



W//d Straivberries. 41 

of the State. Around the margin of Humboldt Bay, on land 
cleared by fire or axe, blackberries spring up abundantly on the 
denuded land. Tons of the fruit are said to remain after the 
local housewives have done their utmost in preserving and jelly- 
making. In the lowland region around Stockton considerable 
cjuantities are sometimes gathered for sale. The fruit, which 
has been held in high repute ever since pioneer days, is oblong, 
black, and sweet. The species is variable, and the anomaly, a 
white blackberry, has been reported from Del Norte County. 

Wild Strawberries (Fragaria sp.). — We have in California 
two Eastern species: Fragaria vcsca and F. Virginiana. Thus 
far these have only been reported from localities in the Sierra 
mountain region. Another has been found identical with a 
South American species, Chiloensis, and it occurs along the coast, 
where the fruit is esteemed, and is sometimes abundant enough 
to gather in quantity. A fourth species is local, and is named 
Californica. It bears a small round fruit and is partial to the 
coast region. Recently some cultural attention has been given 
to the wild strawberry, and a variety worthy of propagation is 
reported by growers resident in the Sierra region. It is called 
"Honey," and is described by Watkins as small to medium size, 
exquisite flavor, glowing red color, productive, perfect bloom, 
and very hardy. Other varieties of the Alpine type have been 
brought to light in the Sierra region and to some extent dis- 
tributed. 

Wild Gooseberries and Currants {Ribes sp.). — Some of our 
currant species are achieving quite a reputation abroad as orna- 
mental shrubs, but they bear insipid fruit. The fruit of Ribes 
tenuiflorum is, however, more agreeable, and is esteemed for 
jellies, etc., by dwellers in its region, which is the mountain 
region of the extreme north of the State. We also have a 
species (bracteosum) which has something of the black currant 
flavor and a fair-sized fruit, black with whitish bloom, and very 
sweet. 

There are also several species of Ribes which are classed 
with the gooseberries, but only three bear edible fruit. One of 
these {Ribes divaricatum) is peculiar to this coast; another (Ribes 
oxyacanthoides) occurs at an elevation in the Sierra Nevada and 
thence extends eastward beyond the Rocky Mountains. The 
berries are small to medium, of pleasant flavor, and well armed 
with spines. Another species (Ribes qucrcetorum), common in 
San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties, resembles the flavor of 
the cultivated gooseberry, and is free from spines. 

Cranberries and Huckleberries (Vaccinium sp.). — We have 
several species belonging to the same botanical genus as the 
Eastern cranberry, but quite diflferent from it both in growth 



42 Other Wild Berries. 

of plant and character of fruit. The fruit of two species is red- 
dish, but insipid. Other species (F. ovatum, &c.) have dark blue 
or purple fruit. Some of these are locally esteemed, and the 
argument drawn from them is that the cranberry of commerce 
would succeed. It should be stated, however, that the situations 
in which these plants thrive are not at all according to the re- 
quirements of the bog cranberry. A huckleberry (Vaccinium 
ovatmn) is largely gathered in the redwood region of northern 
California, for canning and pie-making. The berries are juicy 
and delicious, and the preserved fruit has a very agreeable flavor. 

Other Berries. — There are many small, wild fruits, com- 
monly designated as berries, which are of considerable botanical 
interest. The fruit, too, may be said to be edible, judging by 
the taste of Indians, birds, and wild beasts, but not likely to be 
much more than ornamental in the eyes of white people. They 
may be briefly enumerated: — 

The "manzanita" {Arctostaphylos mauzanita). the "little 
apple" of the Spaniard, bears a rather dry but sub-acid fruit. 

The "bear berry" {Arctostaphylos uvaursi) is esteemed by 
Indians both as food and medicine. 

The "western buffalo berry" has small acid edible fruits. 

The "salal" (two species of Gaulthcria), small fruit, either red 
or purple, is also a favorite of the aborigines. 

Of "barberries" we have three species of bcrberis. One, 
aquifolium, is called the "false Oregon grape," chiefly notable 
for its handsome bloom, which has been chosen the State flower 
of Oregon. The fruit is dark blue, and the root is said to be a 
febrifuge. Another species {nervosa) has a larger fruit, which 
is esteemed in cooker>-; and a third species {pinnatd) bears a 
small, pleasant-flavored fruit. It is the Lciiya amarilla of the 
Spanisli-Californias. 

Our "service berry" {Amelanchicr alnifolia) is from a quarter 
to a third of an inch in diameter and of a purple color. 

The "lemon berry" is a fruit of Rhus iiifcgrifolia, and is 
coated with an acid exudation which is said to dissolve in w^ater 
and make a pleasant drink. The fruit of Rhus tri-lobata is said 
to have both a sweet and an acid coating. 

The berries of the "toyon" or "tollon" {Hetcromcles arhuti- 
■folia), or "California holly," are said to be eaten by Indians, but 
they serve the white people a better purpose in Christmas dcora- 
tions. 

The "jujube" of commerce (Zi:::yp]ius jujuba) has a local rel- 
ative in Zizyphns parryi, which is, however, dry and mealy, 
rather than juicy. 

The "beach strawberry" is the frviit of Mesembrianthemum 
equilaterale, a relative of the ice-plant. The good-sized fruit is 



Wild Olive and Almond. 43 

gathered along the sea-shore, and remotely suggests a straw- 
berry. 

Wild Olive {Forcstiera nco-Mexicaiia). — This is a tall willow- 
like shrub, found in springy places on the borders of the Mojave 
Desert. It bears an abundance of small fruits which, from their 
botanical relationship to the olive, have attracted some attention. 
Experiments to determine its standing as a possible root for the 
olive have been suggested. 

Wild Nuts of California. — The wild nuts of California are of 
very little commercial importance. The wild almond (Primus 
Aiidcrsonii) of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada is only of 
botanical interest, and little more can be said of the California 
filbert (Corylus rostrato, var. Calif ornica), which has none of the 
quality of the improved filberts nor even of the wild hazelnut. 
Our chestnut (Castanopsis chrysophylla) has a sweet kernel, but 
a hard shell, almost like a hazelnut. Our native walnut (Juglans 
Calif ornica) is better in flavor than the Eastern black walnut, but 
its hard shell makes it of little commercial account in competi- 
tion with better, cultivated nuts. 

The one native nut which is regularly sold in the local 
market is the "pinenut" — seeds of several species of Pacific Coast 
pines. Their flavor is somewhat resinous, but is agreeable. 

The seeds of two species of palms, Washingtonia filifera and 
the Lower California Erythca annata, are sought for by the In- 
dians, who also eat the sweetish fruit of the Yucca Mojavensis, 
which somewhat resembles in shape the banana, and in flavor 
the fig. and is called the "wild date." 

The Indians also use the acorns of several species of Cali- 
fornia oaks as food, extracting the bitterness by soaking in water, 
and then making a rude bread of the acorn meal. 

The "jajoba" {Simmondsia Californica) is a low shrub, the 
fresh fruits of which, deprived of their seed-coats, are eaten Hke 
almonds, and when dried by fire and ground they are used as a 
beverage, in the form of tablets made up with sugar, or as a 
simple infusion. Fire-dried seeds contain 48.30 per cent of fatty 
matter; the oil is suitable for food and of good quality, and pos- 
sesses the immense advantage of not turning rancid. In Lower 
California it is prepared by boiling with water. The French are 
recommending it for cultivation in their North African colonies. 
Cactus. — The common cactus (Opuntia Engelmanni) bears a 
sweet edible fruit which the Indians dry in large quantities for 
winter use. By long boiling they make a sauce, which, after 
slight fermentation, they consider especially nutritious and stim- 
ulating. 



CHAPTER V. 

CALIFORNIA MISSION FRUITS. 

Cultivated fruits were first brought into California from the 
south. Mission work among the Indians of Lower California 
was actually begun by the establishment of the mission at Lo- 
reto by Salvatierra, October 19, 1697. The following years 
horses and cattle were brought from Mexico, and from this intro- 
duction came ultimately the vast herds which roamed the hills 
and plains of California. Probably the first seeds and plants of 
cultivated vegetables and fruits came about the same tim'e, for 
there was a small garden and a few fruit trees at Loreto in 1701. 
But Loreto was not fitted for horticulture, and in the same year 
an expedition in charge of Father Ugarte, who is called the 
founder of agriculture in Lower California, crossed over the 
mountain to a more suitable location at the mission of Vigge 
Biaundo, which had been destroyed some time before by hostile 
Indians. Ugarte restored the mission, made irrigating ditches, 
and planted fruit trees and vines. This effort was successful 
from a horticultural point of view, for in 1707 Ugarte made more 
wine than would suffice for mission use, and sent some to Mex- 
ico in excJiange for other goods. Thus began the export trade 
in California wine. 

The Jesuits continued their establishment of missions in 
Lower California until there were fifteen missions, at five of 
which there were vineyards, and presumably as many or more 
which had gardens with fruit trees. 

The variety of fruits grown in Lower California was small. 
They had figs, oranges, citrons, pomegranates, plantains, and 
some olives and dates. There were no North European fruits, 
with the exception of a few peaches, which, however, did not 
appear to thrive. 

The Jesuits were supplanted in Lower California, in 1768, 
by the Franciscans. The Franciscans, led by Junipero Serra, 
at once pressed northward, and entered the territory which is 
now the State of California. Their first establishment was at 
San Diego, in 1769. Thence they proceeded northward, brav- 
ing many perils, and undergoing great hardships, establishing 
missions through the coast region of the State. Credit is given 

(44) 



Fruits at the Missions. 45 

to the secular head of the expedition to San Diego, Don Joseph 
de Galvez, representing the king of Spain, for ordering the car- 
rying of seeds of fruits, grains, vegetables, and flowers into the 
new territory, and from the plantnig at San Diego the same 
varieties were taken to the twenty missions afterwards estab- 
lished. 

Kinds of Fruit at the Missions. — It is of no little interest to 
ascertain how great a variety of frttits was grown in these mis- 
sion orchards. Vancouver, in 1792, found a fine orchard at 
Santa Clara, with apple, peach, pear, apricot, and fig trees, all 
thrifty and promising. He also describes at the mission of San 
Buena Ventura apples, pears, plums, figs, oranges, grapes, and 
peaches and pomegranates. Robinson described the orchards 
connected with the Mission of San Gabriel as very extensive, 
having among their trees oranges, citrons, limes, apples, pears, 
peaches, pomegranates, and figs. There were also grapes i"n 
abundance. Edwin Bryant noticed at San Luis Obispo Mis- 
sion the orange, fig, palm, olive, and grape. At the Mission 
San Jose he found an inclosure of fifteen or twenty acres, the 
whole of which was planted with trees and grape-vines. There 
were six hundred pear trees and a large number of apple and 
peach trees, all bearing fruit in great abundance and in full per- 
fection. The quality of the pears he found excellent, but the 
apples and peaches indifferent. E. S. Capron, in a general enu- 
meration of the fruits grown at the missions, includes cherries.' 

Early Planting by Others than the Padres. — Though the ear- 
lier Spanish population had the example of successful horticul- 
ture before them for half a century at the missions, they did not 
seem inclined to emulate the efforts of the padres upon their 
own grounds, except in occasional instances. General Vallejo 
planted fruit trees in Sonoma Valley as early as 1830, and of his 
place it is said: "It is an old and well-cultivated place, well known 
in all the northern portion of California while this State was still 
Mexican territory." Exceptions there were, also, at the south. 
The old fruit garden on the Cumulos Rancho, in Ventura County, 
has become famous. Fremont, writing of his observations in 
1S46, says that among the arid, brush-covered hills south of San 
Diego he found little valleys converted by a single spring into 
crowded gardens, where pears, peaches, quinces, pomegranates, 
grapes, olives, and other fruits grew luxuriantly together. 

Scarcely had six years elapsed subsequent to the settlement 
of the pueblo of San Jose on its present site, before the inhabit- 
ants were enjoying the benefits of luxurious fruits. Before 1805 
more was grown than could be disposed of in its natural state. 

Decline of the Mission Orchards. — The decline of most of the 
mission orchards and eardens followed the secularization of the 



46 Planting by Early Settlers. 

establishments in 1834. There were a few exceptions, where the 
mission lands fell into enterprising Spanish or American hands. 
During the years of neglect, the more tender trees died, and the 
more hardy survived. The pear and the olive vied with the vine 
in withstanding drouth and the trampling and browsing of the 
cattle that roamed unmolested through the deserted gardens. 
These pears, as will be described presently, were turned to good 
account by the early American settlers; the olive and the vine 
furnished cuttings for most of the plantations made during the 
first twenty years or more of American occupation. 

But it seems that not all the mission orchards were per- 
mitted to fall into decay after the secularization. In 1846 Bry- 
ant found at the Mission San Jose two gardens inclosed by high 
adobe walls. The area was from fifteen to twenty acres, all of 
wdiich was planted with fruit trees and vines. There were about 
six hundred pear trees and a large number of apple and peach 
trees, all bearing fruit in great abundance, the quality of the 
pears being excellent, the apples and peaches indifferent. Other 
visitors to some of the mission orchards between the events of 
secularization and American occupation speak of being regaled 
with pears and milk, a dish which seemed to them ambrosial 
after the weary journeys overland across the deserts, or after 
months of ship fare. 

Planting of Mission Fruits by Early Settlers. — There were 
quite considerable plantations, chiefly of mission grapes and 
OTanges, by early settlers in the neighborhood of Los Angeles. 
General Bidwell says he saw in Los Angeles in 1845 the largest 
vineyards that he had seen in California, and the vines were 
the most thrifty. Wine was also abundant, — even the Angelica. 
Los Angeles had orchards, also, mostly of oranges. The largest 
orange orchards at that time were those of Wolfskill, Carpenter, 
and Louis Vigne. 

Among the early planters of mission fruits in the northern 
part of the State was Yount. who planted vines in Napa Valley 
in 1838. and other fruits later. John Wolfskill, of Winters, saw 
grapes and peaches at Yount's in 1841, and J. M. Pleasant took 
peach pits from Yount's over into Pleasant's Valley, Solano 
County, in 185 1. Dr. Marsh, on his place at the base of Mount 
Diablo, had, in 1842, a mission grape vineyard more than an acre 
in extent, and in good bearing. The vines were planted about 
1838. Mr. Wolfskill planted a few vines on I'utah Creek in 
1842. 

Partial Revival of the Mission Fruit Gardens. — After the in- 
coming of Americans in [849 some of the old mission trees 
were secured by enterprising men, and made to renew their 
youth by pruning, cultivation, and irrigation, that they might 



Rtissiaii Introductions. 47 

minister to the great demand for fruit which sprang up among 
the gold seekers. The trees richly reciprocated the care and 
attention given them. The first fruits offered for sale in the San 
Francisco markets were from the pear trees of Santa Clara and 
San Jose Missions, and from the mission grape-vines of the same 
localities, and of Los Angeles County. These grapes, packed 
in sawdust, came up the coast by steamer, and were then re- 
shipped to the mining camps, arriving for the most part in good 
condition, and were very popular. It is recorded that one thou- 
sand five hundred tons of these grapes were sent from Los An- 
geles County to San Francisco and the mines in 1852. Another 
instance in which thrift followed neglect is seen in the fact that, 
in 1858, Don Andres Pico, who succeeded to possession of the 
orchard at the San Fernando Mission, did a considerable busi- 
ness in drying pears and other fruits, using the labor of the 
Indians. 

At the present time vestiges of the old mission orchards 
still remain, the pears and olives still bearing, and in some cases 
the old date palms guarding the desolate scenes, or standing as 
reminders of the old regime, while the new life of California is 
surging up around them, 

RUSSIAN FRUITS. 

The second introduction of cultivated fruits to California 
was by the Russians. The exact date of their planting at Fort 
Ross on the ocean side in Mendocino County is not known, but 
is believed to have been as early as 18 12. The present owner 
of the property is Mr. G. W. Call, who says the survivors of the 
original Russian planting look "very old and mossy, and are not 
very thrifty, but still bear some fruit every year." They were 
planted too closely, and have undergone periods of neglect, no 
doubt. The trees are apple for the most part, but there were also 
cherries, and some of both fruits survive. The trees are all be- 
lieved to have been grown from seed, and if this be true some 
fortunate results were obtained, for there is still grown in Green 
Valley, Sonoma County, a medium-sized, bell-shaped apple, 
lightly striped with red, which is called the Fort Ross or Rus- 
sian apple, and was probably propagated by grafts from the Fort 
Ross orchard. Seeds were also secured from this source for 
propagation of apple trees in earlv days in that section of the 
State. 



CHAPIER VI. 
INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVED FRUIT VARIETIES. 

The first cultivated fruits of the old era came to California 
with the padres. The first fruits of the new era came with the 
American pioneers. Though not a little inquiry has been made, 
it is not yet possible to declare definitely who brought the first 
budded or grafted trees upon California soil, and it is hoped 
that this statement may induce someone to disclose this historic 
fact, which is of much interest in view of our wonderful growth 
in fruit production. Perhaps the first improved varieties of de- 
ciduous fruits arrived in 1846. B. M. Leiong, secretary of the 
California Board of Horticulture, sa}'s that it is a tradition in 
his family that his father, the late Martin Leiong, who came to 
California as a member of Stevenson's regiment, brought with 
him a small lot of French varieties of apples growing in a box, 
and that they were planted in Los Angeles. 

In the fall of 1849 ^''- H- Nash, now a resident of San Fran- 
cisco, joined with R. L. Kilburn in ordering from a nursery in 
western New York a small box of thirty-six fruit trees, which, 
packed in moss, well survived the journey around the Horn, 
arriving and being planted in Napa Valley in the spring of 1850. 
The shipment included Rhode Island Greening, Roxbur\' Rus- 
set, Winesap, Red Romanite, Esopus Spitzenburg apples; Bart- 
lett and Seckel pears; Black Tartarian and Napoleon Bigarreau 
cherries. 

Before this introduction of grafted fruit trees, and, indeed, 
for several years afterwards, there were many shipments of fruit- 
tree seeds from the eastern States to California. Mr. Barnett, 
of Napa, planted Kentucky seed as early as 1847. T. K. Stewart 
says that he brought to California with him, in 1848, about two 
hundred pounds of vegetable and fruit seeds, the latter including 
peach, pear, and apple, all of which were planted on the Ameri- 
can River, within the present limits of Sacramento, in the spring 
of 1849. At the same time he planted figs and olives, and, in 
1851, seeds of oranges. From all these he secured bearing trees. 

But these early efforts at improvement of California fruits 
were but faint forerunners of the zeal and enterprise which fol- 
lowed the great invasion by gold seekers. As soon as the first 

(48) 



The First Nursery Trees. 49 

thought — to get gold directly ironi the soil — would admit the 
second — to get it indirectly, by agricultural and horticultural 
arts — there came a demand for something better than the wild 
fruits of the mountains, better and more abundant than the fruits 
from the mission orchards. At first everything in the line of 
fruit-tree seed which could be obtained was planted. Thus the 
immediate vicinity of the mines soon began to show growing 
fruit trees. But seedlings of any kind would not satisfy the 
planters, and effort was put forth in every direction after grafted 
trees of the best varieties. Oregon had a few years the start 
of California as an inviting field for immigration, and the advan- 
tage also of winning the attention of those who went out, not as 
gold seekers, but as agricultural producers. Oregon had grafted 
trees in bearing, and nursery stock as well, about the time the 
demand sprang up for it m California. Its introduction was 
then, however, of very recent date. Up to 1847 the cultivated 
fruit of Oregon consisted of seedlings introduced by the Hudson 
Bay Company. In that year occurred the first considerable, if 
not the very first, introduction of grafted fruit upon the Pacific 
Coast. The story of that venture has been so often wrongly 
told that it is well to record its interesting incidents in the words 
of one quite near to the event, if not actually participating in it. 
Seth Lewelling, of Milwaukee, Oregon, writes: — 

In 1847 niy brother, Henderson Lewelling, crossed the plains from 
Henry County, Iowa, to Oregon, bringing with him a pretty general va- 
riety of grafted fruits. He fitted up a wagon for the purpose, selected 
small plants, and planted them in soil in the boxes, and watered them to 
keep them alive. He told me that in some places he had to carry water a 
mile, up the mountains, to save his trees. When he arrived in Oregon, 
late in the fall, he had something over three hundred plants alive. The 
same fall William Meek arrived in Oregon with a few varieties of fruit 
trees. He and my brother put their stock together, and commenced the 
first nursery of grafted fruits on the Pacific Coast. It was situated five 
miles south of Portland, just below Milwaukee, on the east bank of the 
Willamette River. For want of seedling stock they could not increase 
their nursery much until, in 1850, my brother John and I crossed the plains, 
bringing with us some apple seed, which we planted that winter. We also 
found a gentleman named Pugh, in Washington County, Oregon, who had 
planted some apple seed in the spring of 1850, which had grown well, and 
we bought his stock. During the winter of 1850-51 we put in about twenty 
thousand grafts. In March, 1851, I went to Sacramento, taking with me a 
box of grafts of apple, pear, peach, plum, and cherry, and sold them in 
Sacramento. I believe I have the honor of being the first to distribute 
grafted fruit in California. 

Other Early Introductions. — The introduction of grafted 
trees, for sale by Mr. Lewelling in the spring of 1851, was 
quickly followed by other commercial importations, and by ship- 
ments by planters for their own use, so that the plantings of 
1851-52 were quite large. Still there was great doubt as to the 
success of the trees. The late G. G. Briggs, after his great 



50 Early Fruit Gardens. 

melon profits of 185 1, went back to New York State for his fam- 
ily, and, returning to California, brought with him, as he says, 
"with no idea that they would succeed, but as a reminder of 
home/' fifty peach and a few apple and pear trees. To his sur- 
prise the trees grew well in 1852, and the next year blossomed 
and bore some of the best peaches he ever saw. The pears also 
bore some fine fruit the same year. 

Besides the introduction of grafted trees which have been 
mentioned there were others in 1852, for, at a fair held in San 
Francisco in 1853, there were several kinds of apples, grown by 
Isaac A. Morgan, of Bolinas, on trees planted the previous year. 
Apples were also shown from Napa. David Spence, of Mon- 
terey, showed the first almonds grown in California. During 
the winter 1852-53 the distribution of grafted trees must have 
extended widely over th-e State. Five dollars for a small tree 
was frequently paid at the nursery of Meek & Lewelling, in 
Milwaukee, Oregon, and the trees were carried overland into 
the mining districts of California, as well as brought to San Fran- 
cisco for distribution through the valleys. 

Fruit Gardens, not Orchards. — It is interesting to note that 
much of the pioneer effort was expended upon fruit gardens 
rather than fruit orchards. Two ideas, at least, led in this direc- 
tion. One was the popular thought, which, however, was very 
early found to be erroneous, that frequent and copious irrigation 
was essential to the growth of fruit in this dry climate. Another 
was the ambition, which was correct, both from a horticultural 
and commercial point of view, to secure the fruit just as soon 
as possible, for the double purpose of determining what was 
adapted to the novel conditions, and to secure the magnificent 
prices which fruit commanded in the market. For these ends 
dwarfing stocks naturally suggested themselves, and were em- 
ployed to an extent which seems wonderful when it is remem- 
bered that now hardly a fruit tree in the State is worked upon a 
dwarfing stock. Very early, say from '52 to '58, at San Jose, 
Oakland, Stockton, and Sacramento, small areas, which would 
now only be considered respectable house lots, were turned to 
great profit with dwarf pear and apple trees. The place of Mr. 
Fountain, near Oakland, was called, in 1857, '"The finest orchard 
of dwarf trees in the State." It consisted of three acres set 
with one thousand six hundred apple and pear trees, all dwarf 
from root grafts, two years old, and four feet high, and most of 
them in good bearing. He started the branches from the 
ground, pruning severely, and heading in during the winter. 
He claimed that dwarfing gave him better and larger fruit, and 
from two to three years sooner than with standard trees. He 
did not irrigate, but plowed frequently, four inches deep, up to 
the first of June. 



Landscape Fniit Planting. 51 

But though these dwarf-tree gardens were formally declared 
"to be the fashion," and though the list of stock of one Sacra- 
mento nurseryman, in 1858, included ninety-five standard and 
eight thousand and sixty-eight dwarf pear trees for sale, the 
foundations of the greater orchards were early laid upon the 
basis of standard trees. Thus the Briggs" orchard, of one thou- 
sand acres, on the moist land of the Yuba, was planted with 
trees sixteen feet apart each way, and Mr. Lewelling, and other 
early planters on the rich lands of central Alameda County, 
adopted about the same distance. 

Quite in contrast, too, with the prevalence of dwarf trees, 
and contemporaneous with it, was the grand plan upon which 
the pioneer of pioneers, General Sutter, laid out his orchard 
on Hock Farm, on the west bank of the Feather River, eight 
miles from its junction with the Yuba, of which the following 
description was written about the time the trees were coming 
into bearing: — 

Several acres were set apart for an ornamental fruit orchard, the trees 
and shrubs being so arranged as to present a unique landscape garden, 
nearly every article in which is productive of fruit. The arrangement of 
the fruit trees is peculiar, a large portion of them being set on either side of 
the broad avenues opening through the extensive grounds in various direc- 
tions, imparting to the whole an air of picturesque beauty seldom seen. 

But neither the narrow dwarf-tree garden plan nor the broad 
landscape-garden plan has survived. Neither of them harmo- 
nized with the conunercial idea of orcharding — large produc- 
tion and economy of cultivation, and both are now but curiosi- 
ties of the early horticulture of California. 

Irrigation Abandoned. — The early abandonment of dwarf 
trees suggests also the early abandonment of irrigation in the 
valleys of Northern California — as early as 1856. Facilities 
which had been secured for irrigation of orchards were allowed 
to go unused, because it was seen that it was better not to use 
them. One case is reported in Napa County where means to 
furnish the orchard with thirty thousand gallons of water per 
day were allowed to lie idle. The substitution of cultivation for 
water, of course, attended this reform. The announcement of a 
practise, in 1856, "to plow deep, dig wide and deep holes for 
planting, and work the ground from February to July, allowing 
no grass or weeds to grow among the trees," shows that the 
thorough and clean culture, for which California is famous, is 
not a recent idea in our practise. Even the abandonment of the 
plow, and almost weekly use of the cultivator, was the practise 
of some growers in the San jose district as early as thirty years 
ago. In fact, the descriptions of orchard management in that 
day include nearly the whole variety of methods which now pre- 



52 Tne First Over-Supply. 

vail. The experience of the last decade has shown that irrigation 
facilities are more valuable even for deciduous fruits than was 
once thought possible. This proposition will be discussed in the 
chapter on Irrigation. 

Early Wisdom and Enterprise. — It is evident to anyone who 
studies the records, that California was very fortunate in num- 
bering among the early settlers so many men with horticultural 
tastes, skill, and experience. The rapidity with which fruit trees 
were multiplied, and the confidence with which these early com- 
ers entered upon the nursery business, shows their training. 
Although there were many trees brought here from the East 
and from Europe, they constituted only a very small per- 
centage of the plantings of the first few years, but the orchards, 
with the exception of a very small number of trees introduced 
to furnish grafting and budding stock, were the product of the 
soil. When this is borne in mind, it becomes all the more won- 
derful how so much could be done in a new country, in a distant 
part of the world, in so very short a time. It was an observa- 
tion which was put upon record as early as 1856, that "some 
varieties of fruit are much improved by change tO' this State, and 
some are not benefited." The test seems to have been that if a 
variety was not better than at the East, it should be discarded. 

The First Ovei supply. — The wonderful stimulus given to the 
fruit interest by the results attained in growth and in marketing, 
soon induced larger plantings than the demand warranted. In 
1857 it was publicly stated that "there are single farms m this 
State, containing each over half a million fruit trees in orange 
and nursery — one person owning enough trees, when fully ma- 
tured, to produce as much fruit, other than grapes, as will be 
sold this year throughout our State. The day is not far distant 
when fruit will be an important crop for raising and fattening 
swine." This was, to a certain extent, a statement of a croaker, 
for plantations continued, rare varieties were brought from the 
East, the South, and from Europe; the growth of some fruits 
continued to be very profitable, and the nursery business, con- 
fined to fewer hands, was profitable also. The idea that quality 
rather than size should be striven for led to more discrimination 
in propagation and better treatment of trees. 

The decade from 1858 to 1868 was one of quiet in the fruit 
interest of California. Many of the too hastily and carelessly 
planted trees died from lack of proper cultivation and pruning, 
and the borer wrought sad havoc. In i860 and 1861 there was 
serious depression. It is recorded that peaches were worth but 
one cent a pound, and many were allowed to go to waste as not 
worth gathering. The flood of 1862 destroyed many trees along 
the Sacramento River, and replanting was slow until prices be- 



Overland Shipvjent. 53 

gan to improve, as they did soon afterward. The rapid devel- 
opment of the mining interest in Nevada, and the construction 
of roads across the Sierras, opened the way for the disposition 
of much fruit grown in the foot-hills and in the region around 
Sacramento. 

The imports of dried and canned fruits were large, and 
growers were exhorted to take steps to secure this trade for 
themselves. Something was done in this direction, for by 1867 
the local product of canned fruit was equal to the demand. Dry- 
ing did not advance so fast; for two years later there were im- 
ports of six thousand barrels of dried apples, while the hundreds 
of thousands of bushels of the fruit were rotting under the trees 
in our orchards. 

The decade under review was also notable for the first 
appearance of cured raisins and prunes at the State fair of 1863. 
The raisins were from the Muscat of Alexandria grape, and the 
report states that so-called raisins exhibited previous to that 
time were merely dried grapes. Dr. J. Strentzel, of Martinez, 
was the first exhibitor of Muscat raisins, and he exhibited also 
dried grapes of four varieties to show the contrast between a 
raisin and a dried grape. J. R. Nickerson, of Placer County, 
exhibited the dried prunes, which were of the German variety. 

Though this decade was one of uncertainty and doubt, there 
were rich lessons of experience learned, and the foundations for 
coming greatness were well laid. Many of our leading lines of 
production trace their beginnings to this period, and their later 
developments have been beyond any anticipations then cher- 
ished. 

The New Era. — Another era in California may be marked as 
beginning with the year 1869, because then the first fresh fruits 
were sent East over the newly-opened overland line. This 
period of our growth is too recent to warrant prolonged discus- 
sion. The incidents, many of which are not pleasant to recall, 
are within the memory of many. The first season's shipments 
amounted to thirty-three tons of pears, apples, grapes, and 
plums; in 1870 seventy car-loads, or about seven hundred tons, 
were sent. 

The Eastern shipment of fresh fruits began its new era with 
the year 1886, when the first full train load of fifteen cars of fresh 
fruit from deciduous trees went overland. Shipping train loads 
of oranges from southern California began at an earlier date. 

During the present decade shipments of fruit and fruit prod- 
ucts have increased until a very large aggregate in weight 
and value has been attained. The volume of shipments beyond 
State lines is shown by the following statement, compiled from 
the records of the State Board of Trade. 



54 



Our Surplus Fruit Products. 



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At the Close of the Century 



55 



The Fruit Interest in iSpp. — The fruit interests of California 
have reached the cahn, deep waters which lie below the rapids. 
Notable progress has been secured in planting, in the growth, 
preparation and marketing of the product, in the contest with 
injurious insects and plant diseases, and. in fact, in all things 
which contribute to success. It is true that there are problems 
still unsolved, and there have been grevious losses to individ- 
uals who have proceeded upon too great expectations or have 
erred in location for various fruits. Such mishaps will be less 
frequent in the future. At present there is a disposition to pro- 
ceed more cautiously and to profit by the lessous which have 
been learned, many of which will be mentioned in their proper 
places in later chapters. 

Some dimensions of the present fruit interests may be sug- 
gested by the following summaries and estimates based upon 
the returns of the County Assessors to the State Board of Equal- 
ization of the latest available date: — 



Number and Acreage of Fruit Trees and Vines in California 

March i, 1898. 



Fruit. 



I 
Bearing- I Non-bearing. 



Total. 



Acreage. 



Apple 

Apricot 

Cherry 

Fig 

Lemon 

Orange 

Lime* 

Pomelo* 

Olive 

Peach 

Nectarine* 

Quince* 

Pear 

Prune, French 
Prunes, other.. 

Plum* 

Almond 

Walnut , 

Unclassified *.. 

Grapes, acres.. 

Totals , 



1,068, 

1,279, 

303, 

143, 

488, 

2,3'8, 

2, 

420, 

3,5H. 

15, 

4. 

1,086, 

4,612, 

573, 

7. 

959. 

282, 

123, 
144, 



362 
510 
923 
331 
885 
481 
250 

233 
791 

429 

fc25 

988 
'94 
293 
729 
632 
179 
381 
284 
070 



17,205,500 



532,067 

835.691 

122,467 

63,619 

865,044 

1,608,202 

100 

22,227 

782,570 

1,695,124 

257 
692 

487,984 

2,295,633 

400,649 

4,406 

538,378 

257,733 

133-243 

15.774 



10,646,086 



1,600,429 

2,115,201 

426,390 

206,950 

1,353,929 

3,926, ^83 

350 

24,460 

1,203,361 

5, 209,5=^3 

15-882 

5-680 

1,574,178 

6,907,926 

974,478 

12,038 

1,497,557 
540,114 

256,527 



27,851,586 



21,339 
28,202 

5,685 

2-759 
18,052 

52,355 

3 

326 

16,044 

69,454 

212 

56 

20,989 

92,105 

12,993 
160 

19,967 

19,289 

2,565 

159,844 



542,399 



* From the records of March 1, 1897. 



It is customary to add about 20 per cent to the summaries 
from the assessors' reports, because their figures are likely to 
be below the facts. There have been, however, so many reduc- 
tions of area during the last two years, either from natural 



56 



Thirty Millions in Fruit. 



causes or of disappointment in returns from the trees, that it is 
doubtful whether the effective acreage of fruits should be counted 
any higher than that given. 

Valuation of a Year's Horticultural Products. 

The California State Board of Trade estimates the gross value of a year's shipments 
beyond State lines as follows: — 



Kinds. 



Pounds. 



Selling' price 
per lb. 



Value. 



Fresh, deciduous 

Citrus 

Dried, deciduous.... 

Raisins 

Nuts 

Canned, deciduous., 
Vegetables, fresh ... 
Vegetables, canned 

Wine 

Brandy .. 

Total valuation 



139,464,400 

361,317,800 

153.325,400 

95,592,600 

11,631,600 

104-439.400 

57.127,600 

3,786,000 

136,488,000 

6,765,600 



2C 
2C 
4C 

3¥c 
6c 
5C 
^c 

2>^C* 

7>^ct 



% 2,789,288 
7,226,356 
6,133,016 
3.584,723 
697,896 
5,221,920 

428,457 

94.650 

3,412,200 

507,420 



130,095,926 



* Basis of 20c per g-al. 



t Ba^is of 60c per g-al. 



These amounts are of available surplus for export. They 
do not include the local consumption by a million and a quarter 
of fruit-loving people. 



PART SECOND: CULTURAL. 



CHAPTER VII. 

CLEARING LAND FOR FRUIT. 

The greater part of the orchard and vineyard area of this 
State was naturally almost clear for planting. The removal of 
large trees, which paid the cost of the work in firewood, or the 
grubbing out of willows on some especially rich bottom land, 
was about the extent of clearing which our earlier planters had 
to undertake, and by far the greater part of them perhaps never 
had to lift an ax. Still there has always been some clearing 
done, here and there, even since the earliest days, especially upon 
hill lands, the peculiar value of which for some fruits is generally 
recognized. 

The lands which need clearing are in the main the foot-hill 
slopes of the Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. In the 
south there is besides, so^metimes, the debris of the desert flora 
to clear away when water is secured and the rich wilderness is 
subdued. This work is, however, so easily accomplished that it 
hardly rises to the dignity of "clearing," as understood by the 
F.astern mind. 

It is not possible in this connection to enumerate all of the 
great variety of shrubs and trees which the settler lays low in his 
clearing. The grand trees which figure most largely in lumber- 
ing operations are not met with as a rule in foot-hill clearings. 
The trees which the settler encounters are rather the degraded 
valley growths, which, though assuming grand proportions in 
the valleys, become "scrubs" amid the harsher environment of 
the hillsides. This is notably true of the oaks and of some other 
trees. 

Chamisal and Chaparral. — Of true shrubs to be removed, 
it will only be possible to name a few of the most abundant. 
The common manzanita {Arctostaphylos manzanita) occurs on 
dry ridges everywhere, both on the coast and at great elevations, 
sometimes only growing a few inches from the ground, some- 
times rising eight or ten feet. Next to this, perhaps, the two 

(57) 



58 Cost of Clearing. 

terms which the land clearer has most to use are "chaparral" 
and "chamisal." To distinguish between them if may be said, 
however, that the term chamisal properly applies to the shrub 
Adenostcma fasciculatum, var. obiusifolium, which is abundant on 
dry soils in the Coast Ranges and more rarely in the foot-hills 
of the Sierra Nevada, often covering extensive areas with dense 
and almost impenetrable growth, producing an efifect on the 
landscape like that of the heaths of the Old World. Another 
species, A. sparsifolimn, with narrow, scattered leaves, is some- 
times abundant on the mountains east of San Diego. 

By chaparral is generally meant shrubs of several species of 
Ceanothus, forming dense thickets and giving its name to certain 
soils on which it most abounds, both in the Sierra foot-hills and 
the hillsides of the Coast Range, where it is known as California 
lilac. The genus includes the "flat brushes," as they are called, 
from their trailing on the ground, or low, horizontal shoots. 

Other Small Grozvths. — Shrubs of frequent occurrence also 
are the poison oak (Rhus diver siloba), chiefly on the north sides 
of hills in all parts of the State, but most abundant in the Coast 
Ranges, and other species of Rhus which are not poisonous; the 
hazel-nut (Corylus rostrata), which has been mentioned in the 
chapter on wild fruits; the buckthorns, several species of rham- 
vins, well distributed on the hillsides and mountains of the State. 

In some parts of the State there are also large areas of 
sage-brush or wormwood made up of several species of Artemi- 
sia, sage or chia, two species of Salvia, and the famous white 
and black sages of the bee-keepers, which are species of Audi- 
bertia, occurring chiefly on the mountains of southern Califor- 
nia. Add to these the spireas, the azaleas, the rhodendrons, the 
sweet-scented shrubs (Calycanthus), etc., and include nearly all 
the wild fruit trees, bushes and vines mentioned in a previous 
chapter, and one will gain the idea that though California is 
widely considered a bare State, the land clearer has a host of 
plants confronting him and disputing his right to the soil. 

Cost of Clearing. — The cost of clearing on the foot-hill 
slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges is too variable 
to admit of estimates except such as may be made on the spot by 
experienced persons. The cost varies, of course, according to 
the densitv of the growth of trees and underbrush, and the rate 
of wages to be paid. Though in some cases higher cost is 
reached, probably as a rule the expense of clearing will be from 
$5.00 to $30 per acre, less whatever the firewood might be worth. 
In exceptional cases, where there is a large growth and a good 
wood market near by, the wood may pay the expense or more; 
even the roots of chaparral sell in our cities at $3.00 or $4.00 per 
cord. It sometimes happens that charcoal can be produced to 



Methods of Gearing. 59 

advantage; in fact, there are now orchards upon land which was 
secured in the first instance for the charcoal to be made upon 
it. Usually, however, the clearing is an item of expense and 
m.ust be reduced as much as possible by working in the most 
economical and effective way. 

Though in most cases of clearing by the actual settler him- 
self the problem is merely oiie of muscle and persistence, some 
few hints may be given from the experience of others which may 
be useful. Spare time during the summer and fall can often be 
used to advantage with a sharp ax in trimming up the smaller 
trees, which are large enough to yield fencing material, and get- 
ting out posts from the redwoods and oaks, and rails and pickets 
from the pines. By thus using the waste material the settler 
can often get out enough fencing material to inclose his land 
and thus save considerable expense. Brush, too, which cannot 
be made use of can be lopped off — in short, all the sharp ax 
work can be done in a dry time. The actual clearing, however, 
should be done in the wdnter, when the ground is wet and soft, 
and digging is easy or "snaking out" is possible. 

Partial and Thorough Clearings. — Orchards are planted on 
both partially and thoroughly cleared land. By the former prac- 
tise clearing enough is done to give space for the tree holes, 
the debris is burned up, and the trees planted. In this kind ol 
work the stumps are left to be taken out at a convenient season, 
the object being to get fruit trees to growing as soon as possible. 
Where one is working with little more than his own muscle, and 
has no capital, this sort of planting is better, perhaps, than not 
planting at all, but it must be borne in mind that all subsequent 
work will be done at a great disadvantage, and as cultivation 
is likely to be very imperfect, it would be a question whether in 
the end anything would be gained by such a plan. The encum- 
bered character of the ground will, of course, prevent the use of 
the horse in cultivation until most of the stumps are removed. 
Aside from this, decaying stumps and roots in the soil often kill 
the young trees; especially is this the case with old oak stumps. 

Clearing of land for orchard or vineyard is a very different 
thing from clearing for pasture, as is done in the redwood region 
of the northwest Coast Ranges of the Stale, where the stumps 
are untouched ; the trees not taken by the lumberman are girdled 
and left a prey to decay and storms, and the brush slashed and 
burned every few years to prevent it from completely taking 
possession of the land. Clearing for fruit should be thorough, 
everything which will interfere with good cultivation removed; 
roots grubbed so that as little shooting up as possible is secured; 
the ground evened up to obviate standing water, and. where 
needed, arrangments made for irrigation and drainage, as will be 
considered later. 



6o Power Stump Pullers. 

Removal of Trees. — The first operation in clearing will be 
the removal of the trees. This can be partly done in the dry 
season if one has unemployed time. In such case the tree is 
felled and worked up into fire-wood and the stump left for subse- 
quent treatment when the ground is moist. Unless there is idle 
time to employ, the whole work can, however, be better done in 
the winter, for then the top of the tree may be made to help pull 
out its own roots. This is done sometimes by digging out the 
soil and cutting ofif the main lateral roots below the depth to 
which the plow will reach. By thus reducing its anchorage the 
tree will topple over, or may be pulled over with a team and 
tackle, and it will usually lift out its stump quite effectively. 

A Steam Puller. — An arrangement for tearing out trees 
without digging has been used to some extent in Santa Cruz 
County, which is said to handle redwood trees up to four feet in 
diameter successfully. It consists of a portable engine and a 
''puller," which is a windlass operated by steam, from which a 
wire cable is carried to the tree wdiich is to be pulled down. A 
strong chain is put around the tree at a distance above the 
ground proportioned to its diameter in such a way as to give 
necessary leverage. The immensely strong hook at the end of 
the cable is attached to this chain and the cable is slowly wound 
upon the reel. The coil begins to grow taut, a dull creak and 
strain are heard as the roots begin to be torn from the earth. 
Two chains are used, a second tree being prepared while the 
first is falling, that no time may be lost. The cable is detached 
from the falling tree, and a horse draws it from amid the debris of 
fallen foliage to the next victim. The extraction of roots by 
this method of pulling is said to be very complete, and the earth 
is loosened to a considerable depth. 

Powerful traction engines, manufactured for hauling com- 
bined harvesters and steam plows, have also been very success- 
fully used for the removal of large trees in land clearing. 

Horse-Power Stump Pullers. — The use of horse-power de- 
vices for tree felling and stump extraction has increased consid- 
erably of late. The one which has achieved the best results is a 
local invention called the "California Stump Puller." It is sim- 
ply a specially-designed capstan worked by one horse, with a 
wire cable five-eighths of an inch in diameter, an improved 
snatch block, chains, and a draft-hook to unite the cable with the 
chains. Power is applied to the capstan with a sweep. It is 
calculated that with this device, properly adjusted, one horse 
is enabled to produce an effect equal to the capacity of 60 horses 
without it, and that a 1200-pound horse which can move a dead 
weight of one and a half tons for a short distance can move a 
dead weight of 90 tons with the devices employed in the ma- 



A California Device. 



6i 



chine. It is so rapidly adjustable that recently in Napa County 
eighteen stumps were pulled in eighteen minutes, every root, 
however long, coming clear out of the ground with each stump. 




The California Stump Puller. 

The Use of Powder. — Another means for the removal both 
of stumps and of growing trees which has come into quite wide 
use during the last few years, is high explosives, which have 
vastly cheapened the clearing of lands where either large trees 
or stumps have to be removed. Full instructions for the use of 
powder are furnished by the agents in San Francisco, and they 
often send an expert to start the work and give instruction if 
there is much to be done. It has been estimated that the cost 
of handling trees and stumps with explosives is less than one* 
fifth that by hand grubbing, and the ratio of saving increases as 
the trees are larger, as powder is cheaper than muscle. 

Removing Shrubs and Brush. — ^In the case of removing 
shrubs of a somewhat tall growth, the top is made to help out 
the roots. This is done either with a good strong rope or a chain. 
To do this requires two men and a pair of horses, and two 
chains, each ten or twelve feet long. A chain should be placed 



62 Charcoal Burning. 

around the bush some distance above the ground, to give lever- 
age. If the bush is not removed at the first pull, start the horses 
in the opposite direction. While the driver is unfastening the 
chain from the chaparral, the second man can place the other 
chain around another bush, and the one who gets through his 
work first should at once assist the other. In this way the 
horses are kept in constant employment, and neither of the men 
need lose a moment's time. This work should be done when 
the ground is thoroughly wet. 

Where manzanita grows somewhat upright, as it does on 
the hills north of the bay, the same methods of extraction can be 
employed with it, first slashing oft' enough to allow adjusting the 
rope or chain a few feet above the ground. Where it grows 
lower, as, for example, on the hills of Santa Clara, the manzanita 
brush is gone over with a roller so as to break it down, and 
then the land is burned over. The roller should be of the ordi- 
nary farm pattern, but rigged with a tiller (header fashion) so 
that the horses can push the roller and walk over the flattened 
brush. The only object of the rolling is to smash the brush 
down so that it will burn readily. When the brush is got rid of 
in this way, the plow is trusted to get rid of the roots. The 
plow should be of the pattern known as "prairie breaker," with- 
out coulter. Horses should be shod with a plate of sheet iron 
between the shoe and hoof to prevent snagging, and not less 
than four of them used. Much of the Santa Clara County vine 
belt was cleared in that way. Of course this method only an- 
swers for the lighter-rooted growths; tough-rooted chaparral, 
oak, holly, etc., must be grubbed out, unless the roots are snaked 
out by the tops, as has been described. 

Marketable Frodiicts of Clearing. — W'hether any money can 
be made from the results of clearing depends altogether upon 
local markets for wood and charcoal and the cost of transpor- 
tation to them. From clearings near large towns enough can 
be sometimes had to pay for the work and hauling, and along 
railways wood can be often shipped with profit. This can only 
be learned by local inquiries. 

Charcoal Burning. — Charcoal can usually be sold to advan- 
tage, and wood can sometimes be profitably disposed of in this 
way when it can not be marketed for fuel. A considerable acre- 
age of unprofitable fruit trees has been disposed of in this way 
recently. Charcoal is made from most kinds of wood, and some- 
times stumps and large roots are charred. A simple process of 
charcoal burning is given by an experienced burner as follows: — 

To burn a pit of 'harcoal, the prime necessity is to perform tlie process 
of combust'on w'th the least possible contact with air. Select a suitable 
place not too far from the dwellinar. because 'he operation must be watched 



Cutting to Kill Brush. 63 

from time to time by night as well as by day. It is not necessary to dig 
much of a "pit" in the ground. Choose hard limbs of pine, spruce or 
whatever wood is most available of that kind. Dry, dead limbs, if not 
decayed, take for choice. Set them up wigwam fashion, close together, 
fitting them as well as they will allow, the apex forming the chimney. Be 
careful to keep that chimney free, because the fire should be there applied 
to brisk "kindling" as far down as possible. Build round and round, tak- 
ing the precaution to lay three or four straight pieces, three or four inches 
in diameter, along the ground from the outside to the center. These may 
have to be withdrawn to promote the draught. 

The wood all being in place, it is now required to cover it thoroughly. 
In the absence of turf or sods, it must be thatched with leavy green boughs, 
or anything that will prevent the earth or dirt that is now heaped on from 
running through. Pack this soil covering carefully, e.xclude air as far as 
possible, excepting when the port-holes referred to near the ground are 
needed. The direction of the wind will determine which ones are to be 
opened. When the fire — after a few hours, more or less, according to the 
materials — has got a good hold, close also the chimney. Visit the pit reg- 
ularly, night and day; lessen or increase the draught as may seem needed; 
and in a week or ten days the two or three cords of wood should be turned 
into good hard coal. When uncovered, water or dirt should be thrown 
upon coal that is too lively when spread out on the ground. 

Cutting to Kill Brush. — Just when to cut to kill depends upon 
the character of the growth and of the season. Dr. J. W. Gaily 
says: "It all depends, with the leaf shedders, somewhat on soil 
and altitude or nature of climate. Now, in Pajaro Valley, which 
is cool and moist, I have seen willow, sycamore, cottonwood, box- 
elder, maple, and 'grub' oak die out from being cut down flat 
with the ground, or to two or three inches below the surface, m 
late July or early August. But even that will depend some- 
what on the kind of season; if in a late, cold, wet season, you 
cut a little later." 

Mr. P. C. Scranton, of Lake County, gives a slightly differ- 
ent time. He says: "'For the evergreen oaks and other ever- 
green brush, the time is late in the fall, just before the coldest 
weather sets in in November or December. The 'grubs,' or 
oaks that shed their leaves, have to be treated entirely different. 
Their time is in spring or early summer, at their most vigorous 
growth. Suddenly deprived of their leaves, the stump and roots 
are overcharged with sap, some kind of fermentation sets in, 
and I have seen the timber mold and commence to decay in a 
few days when it was very warm weather." In the eastern hills 
of Fresno Coimty best success is had with cutting brush in 
August. More experience and observation are needed tO' enable 
one to generalize safely, but one conclusion seems to be that 
with deciduous growths the best time to cut is when they have 
just made their most vigorous growth, and this is in the sum- 
mer — but the month to be chosen for the work will depend upon 
the location, though August is generally selected as the best 
time. 



64 Use of Sheep and Fire. 

In the case of evergreens, as stated by Mr. Scranton, the 
cutting should be just before the coldest weather, in which they 
are the nearest dormant, the length of time before they can put 
leaves out again kills them. Evergreens, however, differ much 
in tenacity of life, for while most kinds are easily killed, the 
California redwood will endure almost any abuse wdth ax or 
fire and still spring up repeatedly and persistently for years. 

The Use of Sheep on Sprouts. — On sprouting brush, there is, 
perhaps, no cheaper or more effective means of repression than 
sheep and goats. They are used after the top growth is cleared 
away instead of grubbing, if one can wait, for by their persistent 
cutting down of growth, the small stumps and roots will decay 
enough in a year or two to be plowed out with a strong team 
and plow. 

Burning of the Debris. — However the trees and underbrush 
may be wrenched from the soil, fire is the final clearer. Where 
trees are to be worked up into fire-wood, it should be done as 
soon as they are felled, for the work is much less than after they 
become dry and hard. If it is not designed to break the land the 
first winter, the wood is left to season and it becomes lighter and 
easier to handle. The brush and roots, if no use is to be made 
of them, can be left to lie ou the clearing to dry out during the 
following summer, and after the first rains of the following fall 
the whole area can be burned over. Such stumps as do not 
burn with the brush must be gathered in piles and re-fired. 
Burning before the first rain should not be attempted, unless it 
be in exceptional situations, because of the danger of communi- 
cating fire to the surrounding country, which is a standing dan- 
ger in our dry climate. After the rain, then, clean up the 
ground perfectly. 

First Crop on a Clearing. — It is the opinion of some clearers 
in the redwood region that the soil is not fit for fruit trees the 
first year after the original growth is removed, and they grow a 
field crop the first year. They claim that peas are the best cor- 
rective of "redwood poisoning,*' and fortunately in the upper 
redwood district they have a climate well suited to the pea. 
Whether their theory is right or not, their practise is of advan- 
tage, because they get a better cultivation and aeration of the 
soil, and kill out much of the sprouting from the old roots, 
which is usually quite persistent in the moister parts of the State. 
Usually the tree and vine planter is in such haste to realize from 
his labor that he does not allow the first year to go for any side 
issue. 

Surface Leveling and Draining. — There is often occasion to 
clear the land of stone and rocks. The latter should be blasted 
out of the way so that the land may be clear for the plow and 



Grading and Leveling. 65 

cultivator. Once in a while one will come upon a stone wall 
inclosing an orchard in this State, as trim and true a wall as the 
most thrifty New England farmer can boast, but walls are not 
common. Our valley orchard lands are, as a rule, naturally as 
free from stone as they are from underbrush, but on the hills it 
is dififerent. Probably the best way to dispose of much of tlie 
stone is to dig trenches in the natural water runs, put in stone, 
cover with small brush, and then with soil deep enough so the 
plow will not reach the brush. This disposes of the stone for 
all time, and at the same time helps to drain the soil. Concern- 
ing other treatment of the land after the rubbish is removed, 
F. W. Butler writes as follows: — 

When water runs are wide, lateral ditches should be cut extending en- 
tirely through the moist areas. If during the rainy season a run is likely to 
have more water than can be conveyed properly through a covered trench, 
it should be left open and graded so that a team can cross it, and for fifteen 
feet on each side sow to red-top. In this way the land can be utilized that 
would be worthless for trees, and the rtd-top, that can be grown at a profit, 
wil take the place of unsightly weeds, ihat would otherwise grow at the 
point that can not be cultivated. 

To distribute work more evenly through the first year buildings can be 
erected, a well dug, and the trenching done in the dry season, while all the 
grubbing, leveling, plowing and planting must be done the following sea- 
son, as soon as the ground is sufficiently moistened. All depressions 
where water would stand should be filled, and all flat places should be 
graded until water will readily flow off, and not be retained so near the 
surface of the ground as to cause it to become soured. Tliis leveling can 
be best done by one man and a pair of horses. Plow the adjacent elevated 
land and scrape into the places to be filled. The land is now ready for 
plowing and should be done thoroughly, subsoiling to as great a depth as 
the removal of the stumps will allow. It is now well to go over the 
ground again with the scraper and level all the most elevated points so 
they can be readily reached by water in irrigating. Then cross-plow as 
deeply as possible without again subsoiling, harrow and drag, and the 
ground will be ready to plant. 

Mr. Butler writes with reference to the foot-hills of the 
Sierra Nevada, where irrigation must be practised. Where irri- 
gation is not used, leveling, or rather grading, is unnecessary, 
but it is often quite as necessary to arrange for drainage so that 
there may be no depressions which do not have an outlet for the 
surplus water. The life of the trees and the convenience of the 
planter demand this. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE NURSERY. 

California nursery stock is unrivaled in growth, health, and 
vigor. This is the verdict of all visiting horticulturists, and has 
been formally declared by the victories of California tree grow- 
ers at the New Orleans World's Fair, in 1885, where the highest 
premiums were awarded to Californians in nearly all classes in 
which they exhibited; and at the Columbian Exposition of 1893. 

The quality of the trees which can be purchased at our 
■nurseries, and the very low rates at which they have been sold 
during the last few years, make it little worth while for the 
orchard planter to try to grow his own trees. In fact, the invest- 
ment called for to secure a good assortment of well-grown trees 
will be one of the best which the orchard planter can make. The 
professional grower, if he is honest and enterprising, can give 
the purchaser the advantage of his experience and skill in the 
choice of stocks suited to his soil, varieties of fruit adapted to his 
situation, and be of assistance to him in other ways connected 
with his enterprise; and such helps to an inexperienced planter 
or to a newcomer are very valuable. There may be, however, 
some reader who is distant from established nurseries, or pos- 
sessed of limited means, who may like to use his spare time 
in growing his own trees, and to such suggestions are oflfered. 
There will, however, be very much which can only be learned by 
actual experience. 

In the selection of location for a commercial nursery there 
are matters involved which it is not proposed to discuss. At- 
tention will be paid rather to matters connected with what may 
be called a farm nurseiy. The first point will be the selection 
of a small piece of ground which offers proper soil, exposure, 
and, in some parts of the State, facilities for irrigatio'n. 

Proper Soil for Nursery. — The soil should be a mellow loam, 
easy of cultivation and not disposed to crust and crack. In all 
respects what one would choose as a rich, kind garden soil will 
answer well for the nursery. The soil should be moist, but thor- 
oughly drained, either naturally or artificially, for time and labor 
will be largely wasted on a water-logged soil. In this respect a 
soil which might yield fair crops of some shallow-rooting vege- 
(66) 



The Farm Nursery. 67 

tables would not always be suitable for the young trees, which, 
to do well, must have favorable conditions to send the roots to 
considerable depth. Good spots are often found in the rich 
loam along- the banks of creeks, as in such situations one hnds 
generally a deep alluvium, well drained by the creek. But such 
situations, if liable to overflow, should be rejected because stand- 
ing water is not good for trees, and because the soil will be apt 
to be soaked with water and inaccessible just at the time when 
the trees should be lifted for transplantmg to orchard. 

It is not always possible to find an ideal nursery spot on 
every ranch, but still trees may be well grown on less favorable 
places if attention is given to correcting natural defects. For 
example, if the soil be naturally heavy, it may be improved 
somewhat by repeated plowing and cultivation during the year 
before starting the trees. If it be an adobe, its mechanical con- 
dition may be greatly iniproved by the application of a top 
dressing of lime at the rate of six hundred to one thousand 
pounds of lime to the acre. P^or this purpose "lime waste," 
whicli contains both lime and wood ashes, can be had cheaply 
at the kilns. Old plaster which may have been left from house 
repairs is excellent. Even builders' lime would not be very 
expensive, for but little would be required for so small a plot of 
land as a farm, nursery v/ould need to cover. The lime will 
increase the amount of plant food in a heavy soil as well as ren- 
der it more friable. Another way in which a small area of heavy 
soil may be improved is by the addition of sand. A few loads 
of sand, if it can be had near by, will remove the tendency to 
crack, and will act as mulch to prevent evaporation of moisture. 
If the soil be very loose and subject to too rapid drying out, the 
remedy will be moderate irrigation during the summer, but it 
should cease early enough to allow the young trees to ripen their 
wood before the frosts of autumn. Mulches of various light, 
fine materials, rotted straw and the like, may be used to advan- 
tage among the young seedlings in preventing drying out of 
the soil, if the plot is to be hand-worked, but such materials are 
apt to be in the way of neat, thorough work with the horse. A 
mulch of sand, it available, is not open to this objection. 

In choosing soil for a nursery, a piece of land which has 
been in cultivation for garden or field crops is to be preferred 
over a newly-cleared piece. It is often the case that soil from 
which old stumps or shoots have recently been removed has 
become soured from the processes of decay in the dead wood. 
Although the deposits of humus from decay ol woody fiber tends 
to enrich the soil, afterwards certain acids are formed if the land 
lies without cultivation. These are not favorable to the growth 
of young roots, and a crop to which as much time is given as 



68 Location of Nursery. 

a crop of young trees, should not be placed upon it. This evil 
quality in the soil is removed by cultivation and aeration, or 
may be corrected by the application of lime. This state of soil 
is most complained of in connection with old stumps and roots 
of oaks in the valleys. 

Situation and Exposure. — As to situation of the piece chosen 
for nursery, in addition to what has already been suggested, it 
may be remarked that warmth in the soil is necessary to a good 
growth, and a good year's growth is essential to the production 
of a satisfactory tree. Drainage contributes notably to the 
warmth of the soil. Exposure is also of importance. Plenty of 
sunshine and protection from cold winds are to be secured. 
Sometimes a little elevation is desirable. It would be a serious 
mistake to seek moist, low land if the piece lies at the bottom 
of a little valley or depression w^here the cold air settles during 
the night and frosts are frequent. In such cases choose higher 
ground. Of course, in broad, open valleys there is not this 
objection, for such seasonable frosts as may be expected there 
are not injurious to deciduous nursery stock. The greatest 
nurseries in the State are in the open valleys, not on the lowest 
ground, however, in all cases, but on what would be called good, 
rich valley land. There are, however, situations in the thermal 
belts in which the temperature does not fall low enough to check 
growth of deciduous trees and cause the leaves to drop. In such 
cases it has been found desirable to select lower and colder 
ground for the nursery of deciduous trees. 

Preparation of Nursery Ground. — The best preparation for 
nursery ground is the growth, the previous season, of a hoed 
crop. This will secure frequent working ol the soil, thorough 
pulverization of the clods, etc. The produce of the hoed crop 
should thus pay the cost of putting the land in good condition, 
at least. Where the retention of moisture is an object, as it 
really is in some parts of the State where the annual rainfall is 
sometimes small and no facilities for irrigation provided, it will 
perhaps pay better in the end to keep the land in bare fallow 
during the previous summer; but there must be frequent and 
thorough cultivation, keeping the surface always mellow, or 
more moisture will be lost by evaporation than a hoed crop 
would require for its growth. Properly cultivated fallow soil 
will have moisture within a few inches of the surface, while 
unworked soil adjoining will be baked hard and dry to a depth 
of several feet. During the winter immediately preceding 
planting, the green stulT should be allowed to grow for a time, 
but should be plowed under before it gets high enough to inter- 
fere with perfect turning of smooth furrows. The decay of this 
green crop is of advantage to the soil. Another plowing in the 



Growing Seedlings. 69 

spring, and a thorough harrowing, will leave the ground in good 
condition to receive the pits or root grafts as the case may be. 
In this plowing for nursery there should be deep work done and 
subsoiling, as will be more fully set forth under the head of 
preparing land for orchard, to which the reader is referred. 

Grozvth of Seedlings for the Nursery. — The two chief ways 
of producing fruit trees are, first, from seedlings grown on the 
spot; second, from buds and root grafts upon stock imported 
from the East or from abroad. First, as to the growth of seed- 
lings : — 

It is usual to take seeds from sources where they can be 
collected with the least trouble. Apple seeds are vv-ashed out 
from the pomace of the cider press; apples and pears from the 
coring and peelings of canneries and drying establishments; pits 
of the stone fruits are derived from the same source. Supplies 
can usually be purchased from such establishments at a mod- 
erate cost. The trouble is that from svtch supplies one is apt to 
get seeds and pits from all varieties, possessing different degrees 
of health and vigor. There is just as much to be gained from 
selecting the seed from which to grow^ good strong stocks for 
fruit trees as there is in selecting good garden or field seed. 
One can generally get good peach pits, for it is easy to have the 
order filled when the cannery is running on strong-growing 
yellow varieties, for these are believed to be most vigorous, and 
yet some claim much preference for pits from vigorous seedling 
trees, and make extra efforts to secure them. Wherever it is 
possible, and if one is only to produce a small lot of trees it is 
practicable, to select from the fruit the seeds for planting. Not 
only is there great difference in the strength of different varieties, 
but individual trees vary greatly. If one is taking seed from an 
old orchard to start his nursery with, he can take pains to get 
his seed from his strongest trees, and thus secure also that which 
is probably best adapted to his locality. 

Apple and Pear Seedlings. — For a small lot of apple and pear 
trees the seed can be best sown in boxes. Select plump pips 
and keep in moist sand. Keep from the time they are taken 
from the fruit until sowing. Fill the boxes, which should be 
three or four inches deep, with good garden mold, cover the 
seed about half an inch, and then cover the soil lightly with 
chaff or fine straw to prevent the surface from drying out. Be 
sure that the boxes have cracks or holes in the bottom for drain- 
age, and the whole is kept moist but not wet. When the seed- 
lings have grown to the height of three inches, they can be set 
out in the nursery rows as one would set out cabbage plants. 

Cherry Seedlings. — There are different ways of handling pits 
of stone fruits to prepare them for setting out in open ground, 



"JO IVays to Sprout Pits. 

which will be described. The cherry is grown from pits of two 
wild varieties; one is commonly called the "Black Mazzard." 
It is the common wild cherry of the East, and is the original 
type of what are known as the Heart and Bigarreau types of 
cherries. The other is the 'Mahaleb," which is used at the 
East for dwarfing, and also in situations where it thrives better 
than the Mazzard, as it is hardier stock. In this State the 
Mahaleb does not seem to have such a dwarfing effect as there; 
trees on that stock m this State over twenty-five years old are 
twenty-five inches in diameter of trunk. The Mahaleb, how- 
ever, ripens its wood earlier, and for this reason may be valuable 
m the colder parts of the State. The Mazzard is, however, 
almost universally used in California. Cherry stones are some- 
times taken from the fully-ripened fruit, dried for two or three 
days, the stones cracked carefully and planted at once in good 
soil and kept properly moist. They will germinate soon and 
make a gro^^i:h of a foot or so the first season. Such stocks 
are taken up for grafting in the winter and set out in nursery 
row the next spring. A better way of treating cherry is that 
given by W. W. Smith, of Vacaville: — 

The fruit of the Mazzard should be allowed to get perfectly ripe on the 
tree, then gathered and let lie in a heap for three or four days, so that they 
may be partially or wholly freed from the pulp by washing them in water. 
They should then be spread out in the shade and stirred frequently for 
about twenty-four hours. This will give the outside of the pit time to dry 
sufficiently to prevent molding, while the kernel itself will remain fresh and 
green. They should then he placed in moist (not wet) sand and kept so 
until the rains set in in the fall, when they can be planted in drills, in good, 
rich, mellow soil prepared the previous spring and kept clean of weeds 
through the summer, ready for the purpose. They should never be allowed 
to get perfectly dry; and the reason for it is that we have but little or no 
freezing and thawing weather in this country to cause the pits to open; but 
if they are kept constantly moist it answers the same purpose as freezing. 
The seeds of the Mahaleb cherry will sprout with less difficulty, but the 
same rules for keeping the Mazzards will apply to them. 

The Larger Stone Fruits. — In handling pits of the larger 
stone fruits, apricot, peach, plum, etc., the chief requisite is 
to prevent drying and great hardening of the pit. Some plant 
in the fall and trust to natural conditions to start the seedling in 
the spring, but this interferes with the cultivation of the ground, 
and leaves the seedling to grow in soil which has perhaps been 
puddled by heavy winter rains. There must also be much 
hand work done tO' clear the rows from weeds. It is much better 
to keep the pits from drying by covering with sand moderately 
moist, hasten the sprouting by appropriate treatment towards 
spring, and then plant out in thoroughly prepared soil, and they 
will make a satisfactory growth. The following method, by D. 
1. Parmele, of Vacaville, has given good results: — 



Growing Nut Seedlings. 71 

Keep the pits out of the sun until the rains commence in the fall, then 
put them into a box about a foot deep, with openings at the bottom for 
drainage, and scatter sand or tine earth through them, putting about two 
inches on top, and place them under the eaves of a building on the south 
side, where they will get well soaked every time it rains. If there should 
be a long dry spell during the winter; water them a little. About March 
they will open and sprout. Then take a plow and open a deep furrow in 
loose, mellow ground, and, with a hoe, pull about two-thirds of the dirt 
back into the furrow, breaking the clods, and making it fine, the same as 
you would if you expected to plant onion seed there. Drop the sprouted 
pits in straight line, and cover two inches. On account of the extra work 
in preparing the ground, the trees will be large enough to bud in July. 

Another way is to spread out the pits on a smooth piece of 
ground and cover with sacks, and over these a layer of straw 
three or four inches thick to retain moisture. The pits may be 
planted out as soon as they crack open, although no harm will 
be done if they are allowed to lie until the sprouts are well out 

Another method which has been especially recommended 
for treatment for almonds is the following: Lay boards upon 
the ground and cover them with an inch of sand; spread on this 
a layer of almonds and then another inch of sand, and so on. 
Keep the pile wet, and in three weeks of warm weather they will 
burst open. Plant in drills one inch deep and put over them a 
light coat of rotten straw. 

If from any cause the pits have become quite dry, they 
should be soaked in water two or three days before planting. 
In this way imported Myrobalan pits may be made to sprout, 
though even with such treatment many will reftise to germinate. 
P'or this reason imported seedlings are preferred to pits. 

Niit-Tree Seedlings. — In growing nut-tree seedlings much 
the same methods are followed as with pits of stone fruits. 
There are methods described in detail by California growers 
which should be given. As has been said, the nuts may be 
planted at any time after ripening, in the milder parts of the 
State, if the grower will undertake the greater care and cultiva- 
tion. On some light soils where the rainfall is not excessive, 
this is not much trouble. Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, the well- 
known propagator of improved varieties of nut trees, gives this 
as his method: — 

The nuts may be planted as soon as gathered, though here in Nevada 
City it is too cold to plant them in the fall, for the frost in winter would 
surely lift the nuts right out of the ground. This is the way I employ in 
keeping and sprouting walnuts: I throw into the bottom of a box one inch 
deep of sand, then a layer of nuts; put in anothef inch of sand, and another 
layer of nuts, and so on to one or two inches from the top. Then water 
well with a sprinkler and water again during the winter whenever the sand 
gets too dry. The sand has to be pretty well saturated with water, espe- 
cially from the first of January down to planting time, which is in February, 
March, or April, according to localities. The latter part of March or first 
week in April is best for Nevada City. The liuts are planted in drills and 
to a depth of two to three inches. 



72 Imported Seedlings. 

In propagating chestnuts it is always better to select for seed the largest, 
finest, and healthiest nuts; in the fall or beginning of winter the nuts have 
to be planted in a box of damp sand, by layers, the box being kept in a 
cellar. The nuts may be planted, too, in a hole in the open ground, a layer 
of chestnut leaves being first thrown in the bottom of the hole, on top of 
that a layer of nuts, then another layer of leaves, and so on to the top, 
which has to be properly covered with two or three inches of earth so as to 
prevent the frost injuring the nuts. In February or March, according to 
location, the nuts are taken out and planted in drills to a depth of three to 
four inches; less for smaller seed like American chestnuts. 

In planting out pits or nuts, if they have sprouted when 
taken out of the sand or hole where they have been kept during 
the winter, as is most generally the case, they must be planted 
with the sprout up or sideways, but never the small end down. 
So it is with walnuts, almonds, and filberts, and also the pits of 
peaches, apricots, and plums. This point is quite important 
with chestnuts and walnuts, so as to obtain straight stocks and 
shapely roots; then when the nuts are planted wrong, upside 
down, the sprout is liable to remain buried in the ground, where 
it will finally rot. 

Imported Seedlings. — A very large proportion of some kinds 
of fruit trees produced in this State are worked upon imported 
seedling stocks. Almost all the cherries, and it is estimated 
that nine-tenths of the pears and one-third of the apples, are 
thus grown. These stocks are cheap, convenient to handle, 
and are therefore popular. It is easy enough to grow peach, 
almond, apricot, and Myrobalan seedlings, but small seeds, like 
apple and pear, often do not show up well in the spring, espe- 
cially if the soil is of a kind that crusts over with rain and sun- 
shine. Therefore our nurserymen import these seedlings in the 
winter, plant them out, as has already been described, and bttd 
in the following summer, grafting the next spring where the 
buds fall. If the seedlings are large when received, they are 
often root-grafted at once, and then one summer in the nursery 
gives a tree suitable for planting out. These stocks are of bet- 
ter budding size during their first summer than California seed- 
lings, which are apt to overgrow. 

To succeed with cherry seeds requires special treatment, as 
has already been described, and the nurseryman usually finds it 
clteaper to buy his stocks. 

Myrobalan plum seedlings were formerly imported to a large 
extent, but are now chiefly home-grown, and seedlings are used 
instead of cuttings, which formerly were employed largely. 
This stock has secured great favor for plums and prunes, and, 
in some situations, for the apricot; but some growers report a 
very marked dwarfing effect on the apricot, and do not approve 
its use. 

Prof. Newton B. Pierce, of Santa Ana, has discovered in 



Fruit Trees from Cuttings. 73 

California upon imported seedlings a serious root-fungus which 
kills all kinds of orchard trees in Europe, and he advises the 
use of home-grown seedlings to escape this danger. 

Fruit Trees from Cuttings. — It is feasible to grow a number 
of kinds of fruit trees from cuttings, but it is not desirable in 
many cases to do it. Trees grown from a graft or bud in a seed- 
ling root are much better. The root system of a seedling is 
naturally stronger and more symmetrical. The roots from a 
cutting start out at the bottom and spread out horizontally and 
irregularly This style of a root system is expressively named 
"duck-foot roots," and they do not give the tree a deep, strong 
hold on the soil. Trees can, however, be multiplied very fast 
from cuttings. Notable instances of this are the Myrobalan 
plum and the Leconte pear. Cuttings of deciduous trees should 
be taken from well-matured wood of the previous season's 
growth, and planted in rows and in well-prepared soil, as has 
already been described for the sowing of fruit-tree' seeds. The 
cuttings should be taken before the sap begins running in the 
winter. A cutting about ten inches long, four-fifths of its length 
buried in the ground, will answer. Be sure that the ground is 
firmed well at the base of the cutting, but keep the surface loose. 
Small wood is better than large, though, of course, the extreme 
ends of twigs should be rejected usually. Cultivation of cut- 
tings is the same as that of seedlings, and budding, when the 
cuttings are to be used as stocks, is also governed by the same 
rules. 

The orange and lemon can be grown from cuttings, but tlie 
work is done at a different season, and requires dififerent treat- 
ment. Cut from wood one or two years old; set in open ground 
of partial shade and give plenty of water (dry ground is death 
to their tender roots). Plant out in the summer months. Cut- 
tings started in the warm weather and given partial shade and 
plenty of irrigation are very apt to succeed. A piece of well- 
drained soil is essential. This method of growing these fruits 
is not, however, in wide use or favor. 

The propagation of the olive and the fig from cuttings will 
be considered in the chapters on those fruits. 

Planting Out in Nursery. — For planting out in nursery, the 
term "spring" is given at the proper time, but in California it 
must be remembered that spring is not any definite division of 
the year. "Spring weather" comes from the first of February 
to the first of May, according to the latitude or elevation or 
exposure resulting from local topography. Cherries may be 
ripe in Vaca Valley before fruit trees put out leaves in Modoc 
County; and between these extremes there are advents of spring 
in other places according to the situation. These facts are more 



74 ' P/anthig in Niirsery. 

fully set forth in the chapter on climate. Spring must be de- 
tected in the behavior of vegetation and not by the calendar. 
When the tree buds swell and the leaves appear, spring has 
come for that locality. But whether one can plant his nursery 
then or not will depend upon the character of the soil and the 
condition of the rainfall for that season. This varies much 
from year to year. As a rule, however, in most parts where 
fruit is grown at present in large quantities, the heavy cold rains 
will be over by the first of February, and then nursery opera- 
tions can commence if the soil is in good condition. If not, the 
planter must wait until the soil is dry enough to work nicely. 
There will, of course, be heavy rains after the first of February; 
but they will not do more injury than to require cultivation to 
loosen the soil, if the nursery ground is well situated for drain- 
age, and if it is not it should not be used for this purpose. 

Supposing the ground has been deeply plowed and thor- 
oughly harrowed, as has been already described, the laying out 
of the ground is the next operation. Everything should be 
done with a view to the use of the horse in cultivation. The 
rows should be laid out as straight as possible. Some use a 
plow furrow; some an arrangement like a corn-marker, with 
two cultivator teeth set four feet apart; some stretch a line, to 
get the pits or root grafts as true to it as possible, and some 
trust to the furrow for straightness. No rule can be laid down 
for means to be employed; the result must depend upon the eye 
and skill of the individual. Some people can hardly shoot a 
straight line with a gun. Each must do the best he can in this 
respect. 

There is difference in practise as to distance between the 
rows in nursery. The usual distance is four feet, but others 
claim that it is better to make the rows six feet apart, especially 
where no irrigation is practised, as this gives the young trees 
more room, and if the ground is kept thoroughly cultivated, as 
it should be, it gives the roots a greater supply of moisture to 
draw upon. In growing a small lot of trees, where there is 
plenty of land, it is, of course, desirable to give them every 
advantage in the way of facilities for growth. 

At the ends of the rows spaces of about twelve feet should 
be left as turning-ground for the horse when cultivating, and as 
a roadway. The length of nursery rows depends upon the taste 
of the grower. It is convenient to have alleys wide enough for 
a horse and cart at intervals of one hundred to three hundred 
feet, but in small nurseries the headlands would probably give 
all the access required. 

The depth for planting seeds and pits must be regulated by 
the size of the seed and the character of the soil, as is always 



Nursery Irrigation. 75 

laid down by the authorities, and in this State another condition 
must be made, and that is the chmate or weather conditions 
prevaiHng in the locality. Where the rainfall is generally light 
and the soil loose, seed must be planted deeper than where good 
spring showers are to be expected. In fine soils seeds must be 
planted shallower than in coarse, even with the same rainfall. 
Judgment and experience must dictate in this matter, and if a 
man has no experience, he is pretty apt to get it. 

During the spring months the cultivator must be used as 
often as may be required to keep the weeds from getting too 
high, or the soil from becoming too densely packed by heavy 
rains, but the ground should never be worked when too wet. 
It requires some watchfulness and promptitude to use the culti- 
vator just at the right time. 

Nursery Irrigation. — In parts of the State where the rainfall 
is adequate, cultivation thorough, the soil sufficiently retentive, 
and atmospheric conditions favorable, the seedling will make its 
growth without imgation, and many nurseries are on ground 
not provided at all with irrigation facilities. In other parts of 
the State irrigation is necessary. Water should be applied spar- 
ingly, and yet enough to keep the seedling in healthy, growing 
condition. This is shown by the leaves, which should not droop 
or curl. Excessive irrigation should be guarded against, because 
a soft, excessive growth is very undesirable. Water is a good 
thing, and in some cases a very necessary thing, but the use of 
it should be wisely regulated. At budding it is necessary that 
the sap should be free and the bark slip easily. To foster this 
condition it is sometimes desirable to give a watering a few days 
before budding commences. Water should be applied by run- 
ning it through shallow furrows between the rows, and the cul- 
tivator should follow as soon as the ground is dry enough to 
work freely. 



CHAPTER IX. 

BUDDING AND GRAFTING. 

If the nursery ground has been well worked and the seed 
properly handled, the growth of the seedling will be strong and 
rapid. If an early start was had and other conditions favorable, 
some kinds will be ready for budding in June, and the produc- 
tion of what are called "June buds," as will be described pres- 
ently. In ordinary practise, however, budding will come later, 
and the budding season extends from July to October. The 
weight of the budding of deciduous trees is generally done in 
August and September. 




a b d e 

Budding Illustrated. 

The process of budding, as employed on all the common 
fruit trees, is very simple. It consists in lifting the bark and 
inserting a bud from another tree in such a way that the inner 
bark of the bud shall come in contact with the layer of growing 
wood in the stock, and then it will be quickly knit to it by the 

(76) 



Budding Explained. 77 

sap, if the bark is closed around the inserted bud closely enough 
to prevent the air from drying the two surfaces at the point of 
contact. 

In the engraving a is the cutting or "bud stick" from the 
tree of the kind into which it is desired to transform the seed- 
ling. This cutting is to be made from the growth of the pres- 
ent season, which has well-formed buds at the axils of the leaves. 
If buds are desired to mature early, pinch oflf the ends of the 
shoots from which they are to be taken. Suckers and so-called 
"water sprouts" should not be used, but rather well-formed wood 
from the branches of the tree. It is requisite that the buds be 
taken from a vigorous, healthy tree of the variety desired. Bud 
sticks can be carried or sent considerable distances if packed 
in damp moss or other material to prevent drying. Sealing the 
ends with grafting wax is also a good precaution against drying 
out. 

Budding knives can be bought at all seed stores and cutlery 
establishments. They have a thin, round-ended blade at one 
end of the handle, and at the other end the bone is thinned 
down, or a bone blade inserted. The former is for cutting and 
the latter for lifting the bark of the stock into which the bud is 
to be placed. Armed with a bud stick and such a knife, the 
"budder" starts in upon a row of seedlings. Bending the seed- 
ling over a little and holding it between his left arm and his left 
leg, he reaches down for a smooth place on the bark as near the 
ground as convenient to work, and makes a horizontal cut, and 
from that a perpendicular cut downwards towards the roots, as 
shown at h, in the engraving, with the bark slightly lifted and 
ready for the insertion of the bud. Next he cuts from his bud 
stick a bud, as shown at c. This carries with it, on the back, a 
small portion of the wood of the bud stick as well as the bud 
and bark. It was once claimed that this wood should be care- 
fully dug out, but in budding most kinds of trees it is not neces- 
sary; in fact, it may be better to leave it in; such at any rate 
is the general practise. The point of the bud is now inserted at 
the opening at the top of the slit in the bark of the stock and 
pushed down into place, as shown in figure d. To handle the 
bud the part of the leaf stem which is left on is of material assist- 
ance. Nothing remains now but to apply the ligature which is 
to hold down the bark around the bud. 

There are various ways of tying in the bud. Any way will 
do which holds down the bark closely, but not too tightly. 
Different materials are also used, soft cotton twine, stocking 
yarn, strips of cotton cloth, candle wicking, etc. The last- 
named is perhaps the best material, on ail accounts, although 
strips of cheap calico bear evenly upon the bark and do very 



yS Treatment of Buds. 

good work. The use of twine is speedy, but the strands bearing 
upon a narrow surface, and not being elastic, they are apt to 
do injury by cutting into the bark unless carefully watched and 
loosened. The fiber from basswood bark was formerly largely 
used, but has given place to the other materials named, which are 
more handily obtained. The buds must be examined about a 
week or ten days after insertion, and the ligature loosened, for 
otherwise it will cut into the rapidly-growing stock. Some- 
times trees are badly injured by neglect in this particular. 

In making June buds, where immediate growth of the bud 
is desired, some growers make a hard knot with the cord around 
the stock, above the bud, and then use the loose ends to tie the 
bud. When the binding around the bud is loosened, the har^ 
knot remains on the stock, girdles it, and forces the sap into the 
bud. Thin wire, known to nurserymen as "label wire," is also 
used for this purpose. 

In going through the nursery row, all seedlings which are 
large enough are budded at once. In going through the row 
again to look to the bands, if the bud is seen to be fresh looking, 
it is considered to have "taken.'' In stocks where the fii'st bud 
has dried up, another is inserted lower down.- Sometimes seed- 
lings which were too small to hold a bud at the first working 
over are given a bud later in the season, or left for taking up 
for root grafting in the winter. 

In nursery practise the budder does not stop to tie his buds, 
but IS followed in the row by another man, who carries the tying 
material, and does this part of the work. 

The common method of budding thus described is used on 
all common orchard fruits. Special styles of budding for special 
fruits will be described in the chapters treating of those fruits. 

Usually the budded trees are allowed to stand in the nur- 
sery row with no other treatment that year than the insertion 
and care of the bud, the latter remaining dormant until the 
next spring. Then, as soon as the sap begins to swell the buds 
on the stock, the top is cut off down to about two inches above 
the bud, and all growth is kept off except that of the inserted 
bud. When that has grown out about twelve inches, the stub 
is cut off to about three-quarters of an inch or less from the bud, 
and the wood is quickly grown over by the bark. As there are 
apt to be dormant buds on the stock below the inserted bud, 
the trees have to be examined from time to time, and all such 
suckers removed. This is the common practise with budded 
trees. Exceptions will be noticed presently in connection with 
definitions of different kinds of trees known to the trade. 

Spring Budding. — What has been said in reference to bud- 
ding applies to the use of dormant buds. It is also possible to 



Nursery Grafting. 79 

work with what is called a "pushing bud." This process, as 
described by a distinguished French authority, consists of retard- 
ing the growth of the buds on the scions by burying them in 
the ground until the sap is starting well in the stock in the 
spring, and then putting them in, trimming off the top of the 
Slock so as to force the bud into growth. In this way the grower 
of a rare variety may secure trees for planting out the follow- 
ing winter, or he may secure a stock of buds for fall budding, 
and thus multiply his stock of a desirable variety very rapidly. 
A modification of this method consists in taking buds in the 
spring when they have grown out even half an inch, and inserting 
them by the usual method of lifting the bark, when the sap is 
flowing well in the stock. Then cut off about half the stock, so 
as not to give the bud too much sap at first, and afterward, 
when it is seen to have taken well, the balance of the stock is 
cut off near the bud. This method gives a tree the first season 
and saves a year over dormant budding. Shade and protection 
ftom dry wind are desirable. 

GRAFTING. 

The next process of propagation to be considered is that 
by grafting. Its success, as with budding, consists in bringing 
the growing wood (inner bark or alburnum) of the scion into 
contact with the same layer of the stock. It can be applied to 
any part of the tree, from the topmost branch to the lowest root, 
as is the case when new trees are made from scions and root 
fragments. Thus grafting pertains both to the production of 
young trees for planting out and to the transformation of old 
trees bearing worthless fruit into producers of choice varieties. 

Grafting for the production of young trees is first in order. 
Instead of budding the seedling during the first summer of its 
growth, it may be allowed to complete its season's growth, and 
drop its leaves. When thus dormant the young trees are taken 
from the ground, the roots rinsed oft' with water if the ground 
is wet and sticky, or merely shaken free from clinging earth if 
in a dry time. Enough trees are dug at once to graft at a sitting. 
The grafting can be done at the work-bench in the tool-house 
or barn, and if one is pressed with other daylight work, it may 
be done by lamplight at the kitchen table, if the housewife can 
be conciliated for the muss it will make. 

Care of Scions. — The scions should be previously selected, 
and whether taken from trees on the place or brought from near 
or distant sources away from the farm, should have been placed 
as soon as procured in moist earth on the north side of the 
house or other building, where they will keep cool and damp 
until one is ready to use them. At the East and in parts of 



8o Grafting Wax and Bands. 

this State where the ground is apt to freeze it is necessary to 
keep scions in the cellar with their butts covered with moist 
sand, but over most of the area of the State nothing more is 
needed than to put down in the earth at the base of a tree or on 
the north side of a building, with, perhaps, a box or barrel in- 
verted over them to keep out mice and other intruders. Care 
must be taken not to let them dry up. If it is desirable for any 
reason to keep scions dormant long into the spring or summer, 
of course storage in a cool cellar is better, for in the open ground 
the scions will burst into leaf after a warm spell of spring 
weather. 

In selecting wood for scions, as for bud sticks, never take 
water shoots or suckers that start from the body of the tree and 
push up through the older branches, but always give the prefer- 
ence to sound, fully-matured wood, at the ends of the lower or 
nearly horizontal branches. Careful experiments have shown 
that trees grown from such scions are more likely to take on a 
low, spreading habit than those from the central or upper 
branches. The scions should be tied in bundles with a stout 
cord; and a piece of a shingle, with the name of the variety writ- 
ten plainly and deeply thereon, should be tied in with each bundle. 

Grafting Wax. — Tn grafting, a good grafting wax is requi- 
site. The ingredients are mixed in different proportions by dif- 
ferent growers. A few recipes which are known to give good 
results are as follows: — 

Two lbs. mutton tallow; 2 lbs. beeswax; 4 lbs. resin. 
Two and one-fourth lbs. resin; 2 lbs. beeswax; ^ of a lb. tallow. 
One lb. mutton tallow; 2 lbs. beeswax; 4 lbs. resin. 
Two lbs. resin; 2 lbs. beeswax; % lb. tallow, and a little linseed oil. 
Two lbs. resin; i lb. beeswax, 2>^ lbs. linseed oil; 4 tablespoonfuls 
turpentine. 

All these mixtures are made with the aid of gentle heat, 
and during grafting the wax must be kept warm enough to 
apply easily with a small brush. To do this the wax dish may 
be kept on a hot brick, to be changed for a fresh one as it cools, 
or, better still, is to heat the wax in an old fruit-can or some- 
thing of that kind, inside another, which is partly full of warm 
water. The wax should not be so hot as to run too easily, but 
just right to spread well. 

Grafting is greatly facilitated by the use of strips of waxed 
cloth or waxed paper, the latter being quite good enough for 
root grafts, which we are at present especially considering. 
This waxed paper is made by spreading a thin coat of wax, with 
a brush, tipon tough, thin wrapping paper, cutting up the paper, 
when cold, with a sharp knife, on a board, into strips about an 
inch wide. Waxed cloth is made by dipping cheap cotton cloth 
into hot wax, pulling the pieces between the edges of two boards 



Liquid Grafting Wax. 



8i 



to take out as much wax as possible, and when the cloth is cold, 
tearing it up into half-inch strips for small grafts or wider strips 
for large grafts. While grafting is going on in-doors, these 
strips hanging near the stove are kept in good, soft condition 
for use. 

There are grafting preparations which do not require heat- 
ing, but remain in a semi-fluid state, and then become very hard 
by contact with the air. The following is a popular French 
preparation : — 

Melt one pound of resin over a gentle fire. Add to it one ounce of beef 
tallow, and stir it well. Take it from the fire, let it cool down a little, and 
then mix with it a tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine, and after that add 
about seven ounces of very strong alcohol. The alcohol cools it down so 
rapidly that it will be necessary to put it once more on the fire, stirring it 
constantly. Great care is necessary to avoid igniting the alcohol. 

This wax is easily prepared, and when well corked will keep 
for six months. It is put on the wounded part of the tree, very 
thin, and soon becomes as hard as stone. Thus it is valuable 
not only for grafting, but for covering the scars caused by re- 
moving limbs in pruning. When bench grafting is done by 
nurserymen, of course all appliances are arranged for the speed- 
iest work, and wonderfid results are attained by one man and a 
helper, even as many as three thousand root grafts of apple in 
ten hours. We are, however, merely discussing home practises. 

Cleft Grafting. — Where various-sized stocks are to be 
used, as will be the case with a bunch of ho^me-grown seedlings, 
different styles of grafting must be used. Where the stock is 
much larger than the scion, as is apt to be the case with Cali- 
fornia seedlings, the cleft graft will be simplest. 
Cut oiH the top smoothly above the root crown 
and then split the top of the stock, as shown in 
the engraving. Then prepare the scion by 
whittling it to wedge-shape at the 
lower end. Open the slit in the 
stock with a little wedge and in- 
sert the scion so that its inner bark 
matches with the inner bark of the 
stock, something as shown in the 
second figure. It does not matter 
whether the outside of the scion is 
flush with the outside of the stock 
or not; the vital point is to get the 
growing layers just inside the barks 
in contact with each other, and, to be sure of this, it may be well 
to give the scion a slight diagonal pitch, for if the barks cross 
each other, this desirable contact is sure to be made. It is well 
to make the side of the wedge of the scion which goes nearer 
to the center of the stock a little thinner than the outside. 




Cleft Graft at Root Crown. 



82 



Side and Whip Grafts. 




Side Graft. 



A scion for a root graft is cut longer than for use in the top 
of the tree, for in planting the point of grafting is placed a little 
way under-ground. Such scions are usually cut with 
four or five buds. After the scion is in place, it only 
remains to wrap it closely with a piece of the waxed 
cloth or paper, in such a way that all the cut surfaces 
are covered, extending the wrapper a little below the 
split in the root. Paint over the wrapper with warm 
wax put on with the brush, put a little on the top of 
the scion, and the graft is complete. 

Side Grafting.-^Anothar method which prevents 
splitting the stock is the side graft, shoAvn in the ac- 
companying figure. It consists in bending the stock 
to one side and cutting in diagonally with a thin-bladed, 
sharp knife, a little more than half way through the 
stock. Into this open cut insert the scion so that the 
inner barks touch; then allowing the stock to straighten 
up, holds the scion firmly. Covering with a wax band 
drawn tight makes a good job, and such grafts make as 
good growth as the buds set the previous summer. 
This method can be used with stems or branches up to 
an inch in diameter, and is essentially the same as will 
be mentioned later as a side graft for working over old 
trees. In this style of grafting, a stub of three inches 
or more may be left above the graft, and to this the 
graft can be tied to prevent blowing out if it makes a 
strong growth. Afterward the stub is cut back with a 
sloping cut and waxed or painted to prevent checking. 
Whip Grafting in the Stem. — Grafting above the 
root or in the stem of the stock when stock and scion 
are about the same size, is done by tongue 
or whip grafting. The accompanying ^^ip Graft, 
sketch shows a whip graft in the stem of 
the stock. Grafts up to an inch in diameter can 
be made in this way, but it is generally used for 
smaller wood. Care must be taken to secure 
proper contacts of the inner barks at least on one 
side of the stock. After pushing the parts to- 
gether, a wax band holds them firmly in place, 
or the joint may be simply tied and painted over 
with wax. 

A Root Graft. — When the root stock and the 
scion are about the same size, the tongue graft is 
also used, as shown in the figure. In making this 
both the stock and scion are given a sloping cut 
of about the same length, and a secondary cut made in each. 
When the two are put together, the wood "tongues in," bt 




Tongue Graft. 



Handling Root Grafts. 



83 



interlocks, as shown in the engraving. The object of this is 
to make more points of contact for the inner barks of root and 
scion, and at the same time to interlock the two more firmly. 
In putting the two together, if the stock is slightly larger than 
the scion, be sure to put the scion so that the inner bark contact 
is made, and this will bring the scion a little to one side of the 
center. Bind with the wax band, and paint with wax as in the 
case of the former graft. 

In large nursery practise expert grafters have come of late 
years to make this root graft without wax, merely tying in the 
graft. For amateur work at home it is much safer to use the 
wax. 

Grafting in the root, where the root is much larger than the 
scion, may be done without splitting the root by cutting or saw- 
ing out a triangular piece on the side of the root, cutting the 
scion to fit and trusting to a strong band to hold it in place. 
This graft is illustrated in the chapter on propagating the grape. 
It also works well with root grafting the walnut, and is used by 
some in ordinary top grafting on other trees. 




Planting Seedlings or Root Grafts in Nursery Row. 

Planting out Root Grafts. — This root grafting can be done in 
the winter before it is time to plant out, and the grafts can be 
made a few at a time, as convenient. The grafts, then, as fast 
as prepared, should* be bedded in moist sand in the cellar, and 
will make their contact firm, and even start to growing a little. 
In planting out in the nursery rows be sure the earth is firmed 
well around the root, otherwise many will be lost. The plant 
can be put in and the earth closed with a dibble, as seen in the 
sketch. Plant ten or twelve inches apart in the rows. Keep 
the weeds down and the soil well cultivated and loose on the 
surface, and the first season's growth will give a tree fit for 
planting out in orchard in the coming winter. For irrigation 
the same rules will apply as given for the growth of seedlings 
for budding. 



84 Treatment of Trees in Nursery. 

PRUNING TREES IN NURSERY. 

As for other treatment of the trees (either from btid or root 
graft) in nursery during the first year, there is some difference of 
opinion and practise. If tiie young tree will be content to make 
a straight switch with good buds in the axils of the leaves, but 
no laterals thrown out, it will be in the best possible shape for 
planting in the orchard, and gives the planter a chance to make 
the head at whatever height suits him, and to secure uniformity 
through the orchard. All trees will not, however, be content 
with this growth, but will push out laterals all along the stem. 
Even in this case some let the whole growth go for the planter 
to treat as he thinks best. Another plan is to go over the mu^- 
sery when the young stock is about two feet high and pinch 
back the laterals part way, but retaining the leaves nearest the 
stem to shade the stem. This pinching back is done from the 
ground up to a height of one to one and a half feet, and above 
that the growth is left to take its natural course, to be cut as 
desired when the head of the tree is formed. Pinching back 
develops buds near the stem and gives the planter a better 
chance to head the tree lower if he likes. Another practise 
which prevails to some extent, is to pinch off the terminal bud 
when the young tree has reached a height of about two and a 
half or three feet in the nursery. This soon forces a growth of 
lateral branches, which are in turn pinched after they have grown 
out a couple of feet. The lesult is the formation of a head on a 
nursery tree the first year, and when such trees are planted in 
orchard they are merely cut back on the laterals, leaving the 
head as formed in the nursery. Such trees are difficult to handle 
in packing, and take much room in shipment. There may, 
however, be an advantage in such practise for the home grower 
if he is situated in parts of the State where the greatest season's 
growth is attained. Orchard planters generally, however, pre- 
fer a dormant bud or a yearling of moderate growth, without 
laterals. 

CLASSES OF NURSERY STOCKS. 

The several classes of stock which are to be had from nur- 
series are as follows: — 

Root Grafts. — These are seedling roots, or pieces of them 
on which scions of the desired variety have been grafted on the 
bench and the junction healed over in the cellar. No growth 
has yet started in the scion. If the tree planter wishes this kind 
of stock, he should plant it out in nursery row in the spring and 
remove the trees to orchard the following winter. 

June Buds. — For the multiplying some desirable varieties 
very fast, buds are kept dormant in a cool place; or, by pinching 



Grafting Old Trees. 85 

off the top shoots of the current year are forced to mature buds 
very early. These buds are put into seedHng stocks as early in 
the season as possible. After budding, the top of the stock is 
girdled with knife or cord, or partly cut away, and growth is 
forced on the bud so as to give a small tree at the end of the 
first summer. This method of propagation is growing in popu- 
larity in this State, especially in the foot-hill districts where small 
trees are preferred for transplanting. 

Dormant Buds. — Trees are sold in dormant bud when they 
are lifted from the nursery and sent out before any growth has 
started on the inserted bud. The bud should be seen to be the 
color of healthy bark. 

Yearling Trees. — These are trees which have made one 
season's growth from the bud or graft. Two-year-olds have 
made two seasons' growth, and so on. The proper way to count 
the life of a tree is from the starting of growth in the bud or 
graft, for this point is really the birth of the tree. 

WORKING OVER OLD TREES. 

Another operation which may be properly considered as a 
branch of propagation is the working over of old trees. There 
is much of this being done every year in this State. The old 
seedling fruits in the older settled parts of the State are being 
made to bear improved varieties; trees of varieties illy adapted 
to the prevailing conditions are changed into strong growing 
and productive sorts; trees are changed from one fruit to another, 
as with the tens of thousands of unproductive almonds which 
have been worked over into plums, prunes, and peaches. Still 
another reason for working over is to secure more valuable and 
marketable varieties. Sometimes a mixed orchard is made to 
bear a straight line of one sort which is in demand, or when the 
grower finds he has too many trees of a single kind, which give 
him more fruit than he can conveniently handle when it all ripens 
at one time, he works in other varieties so as to get a succession 
of varieties adapted to his purpose, and thus secures a longer 
working season in which to dispose of them. This is especially 
the case in large orchards of apricots, peaches, and plums, when 
the grower depends upon drying his crop. Information con- 
cerning the successive ripening of varieties can be gained from 
the special chapters on the different fruits. For all of these 
reasons, and others which need not be enumerated, the work of 
the propagator is continually going on even in our large bear- 
ing orchards. As with young trees, so with old, transforming 
the character of the tree is done both by budding and grafting. 

Budding Old Trees. — One way to prepare an old tree for bud- 
ding is to cut back the branches severely during the latter part of 



86 Cleft Grafting. 

the winter, which has the effect of forcing out new shoots around 
the head of the tree, and in these the buds of the desired variety 
are set in the summer, just as is done in budding nursery stock, 
except that the budding should be done rather earher because 
the sap does not run as late. When the shoots are budded, 
those being selected which are situated so as to give the best 
symmetry to the new head, the shoots not budded are broken a 
foot or so from where they emerge from the old wood, and are 
allowed to hang until pruning-time. At the winter pruning the 
budded branches are topped off a little above the bud and when 
the new shoot starts it is often loosely tied to the stub of the old 
branch to prevent breaking out in the wind. When it gets 
strength, the stub is cut away smoothly to allow the wound to 
heal over. 

Another way is to insert the buds in the old bark at points 
where it is desirable to have the new branches start. This is 
sometimes done by lifting the bark, as in ordinary budding, and 
slipping the bud under, sometimes by what is called shield or 
plate budding, w^hich consists in removing a piece of the old 
bark entirely and putting in its place a piece of bark of the 
desired variety, having upon it a dormant bud. With plate 
budding it is necessarv' to be careful to have the inserted bark 
just the size of the bared spot, and to wrap it more closely than 
when the bud is slipped under the bark of the stock. In all 
cases in budding old trees, care must be taken to get fully- 
matured buds, and it is well to take them from large shoots, 
which have a thicker and firmer bark than may be used in bud- 
ding nursery stock. It is also desirable to be very sure that the 
buds are taken not only from a tree of the desired variety, but 
from a healthy, vigorous tree of that variety. 

In selecting buds, also, one must be sure that he gets leaf 
buds, and not fruit buds only. In taking buds from some kinds 
of bearing trees, of course, he may sometimes, to 
get well-ripened buds, be obliged to take both 
fruit and leaf buds together. This will work well 
if care is taken not to rub oft the leaf bud. It is 
rather easier, however, to work with buds from 
young trees not yet in bearing if one can be sure 
that these trees are of the desired variety. 

Grafting Old Irces. — Old trees are also re- 
newed by grafting. This is most generally done 
by the old process of ''top grafting," as practised 
at the East. The main stem or the larger branches 
*cndwood" ^^^ ^^^ square off, and the scions, usually two, 
but four or more if in the trunk, are shaped and 
set into clefts in the stock as shown in the engraving. It is 




Top- Grafting MeLhods. 87 

better to use limbs than to graft in the trunk, if the old trees are 
of good size. The following description, which the writer bor- 
rows in part from some unknown source, will serve to- guide 
novices in the matter: — 

The outfit necessary for doing the work consists of a small, fine saw, a 
regular grafting knife, or a pocket-knife with a long, straight, sharp blade, 
wax, light mallet, and a hard-wood narrow wedge. After selecting the 
limb to be grafted, saw it off"— your own judgment will guide you as to best 
point, but belore the saw gets quite through the limb, cut the bark on the 
under side of the limb to prevent the liability of peeling down. 

Next split the stub with knife and mallet and insert the wedge in the 
center of the cleft to hold it open. It is usual to cut the scion with two 
buds, but sometimes better results are had by using scions with but a single 
bud. Whittle the scion wedge-shape, so that it fits nicely down into the 
cleft. To do this, hold it in the left hand with the bud at the ball of the 
thumb, then cut the side toward you; as will be natural, turn it over, and 
cut opposite side in the same way, making the wedge a very little thinner 
on the edge opposite the bud than the other. This will insure a firm 
pressure at the points where the bark of scion and stock meet. 

When set, the bud of the scion will be on line with the outer long 
portion of the graft. The point to be closely observed in adjustment is to 
have the inner or sap bark of the scion connected with the same of the 
stock. If a trifle too far in, or too far out, the work will be a failure. 
Some people set the graft a little out at the top and a little in at the bottom, 
so as to be sure of a connection at the crossing-point, but there will be 
firmeir hold if there is a union the whole length. Our rule has been to have 
the wood of the scion come exactly even with the surface of the stock 
wood, and we seldom fail in getting firm adhesions and solid limbs, after 
years of growth. 

After the scions are set, and two should be put into one limb if large, 
carefully withdraw the wedge and apply the wax, so that every part of the 
wood and bark cut and split is well coated. In doing this use extreme care 
not to move the scions at all from their sittings. 

Most grafting over of old trees is done by this method, 
using one or another of the wax preparations described upon a 
preceding page. If the cut surface of the stock and the split is 
thoroughly waxed over as low as the bark is split, there is 
usually little trouble with the growth of the scion and the heal- 
ing over of the stock. In the warmer valleys in the interior, the 
sun is often hot enough to melt the wax and cause it to run and 
bare the wood surfaces. This is prevented by dusting the wax 
thoroughly with brick-dust well powdered; but, by a little ex- 
perimenting with the recipes already given, one can secure a 
wax which will stand any heat likely to be encountered. 

For grafting over trees by working upon the limbs, the 
neatest and surest work can be done by methods of grafting 
which do not require the splitting of the stock. There are 
various ways of doing this. One method is shown in the en- 
graving on the next page, and consists in cutting the scion as 
shown, and inserting it beneath the raised bark and then bind- 
ing well with waxed bands, the preparation of which has already 
been described. 



88 



Grafting in the Bark. 



Another method is an appHcation of what the French call 
oblique side grafting. It consists in making an oblique cut 
downward through the bark of the stock and 
for a distance into the wood, using a chisel 
and mallet or even a strong knife. A saw 
and knife are also used for making this cut, 
as will be described in the chapter on the 
peach. A small form of side graft has al- 
ready been shown earlier in this chapter. In 
it the scion is held in with a wax band. Some 
growers remove the top of the stock with a 
sloping cut about half an inch above the 
scion, as shown in the engraving, and wrap 
the \\axed 'band well around and over all the 
exposed surfaces. Others do not remove the 
whole of the limb until the scion has started 
well into growth, and then they cut down and 
pare the stock and cover with a band or with a wax that will 
not run in the sun. 

Several ingenious devices have been patented by Califor- 
nians for securing uniformity in the incision in the stock and in 
shaping the scion, but it is so easy to succeed with ordinary tools 
that such inventions have never come into wide use. 




Grafting in the Bark. 



TIMES FOR GRAFTING IN CALIFORNIA. 



There is nothing particularly new about the methods or 
means employed for grafting deciduous fruit trees in California, 
but the time at which the operation can be successfully done, 
and the condition of the scion, are different from those held to 
be necessary in other climates. It is not at all requisite that the 
scions should be carefully stored away to keep them in a dor- 
mant condition, nor that the grafter should haste to do his work 
in just such a state of sap-flow in the spring-time. It was early 
discovered that grafting could be successfully done with grow- 
ing scions, and that scions could be cut from one tree and set 
in another nearly at any time the grafter desired. Grafting is 
therefore possible much later in the season than is prescribed 
elsewhere, and it is also possible to begin earlier. In one of the 
largest apple and pear orchards in the State it is common to 
graft in December. The absence of freezing weather saves the 
graft from injury. As our trees start their flow of sap early, and 
often when the ground is too wxt for comfortable orchard work, 
it is the practise of many to get their grafting and pruning done 
before the heavy mid-winter rains begin. The practise of most 
growers is, however, to conform somewhat nearly to traditional 
methods, to do most of the grafting in the spring months, and 



When to Graft. 89 

to use dormant scions, the growth of which is retarded by heel- 
ing them in on the north side of a building, or keeping them in 
sand in the cellar, as the grower chooses. Of course it should 
be understood that there are parts of the State where the winter 
conditions are more nearly like those at the East, and practise 
has to conform to them. 

As to whether it is better to remove the whole top of the 
tree and graft all the limbs in one year, there is some difiference 
of opinion. The prevailing practise is to graft over part oi the 
limbs one year and the balance the following year; or else to 
leave part of the top to shade the bark and take part of the sap 
flow until the grafts start out well, and then cut it away. 

Whenever old bark is exposed by cutting back for grafting, 
thorough protection against sunburn must be provided. The 
simplest way to do this is to cover the exposed bark with good 
whitewash. By using thirty pounds of lime, four pounds tallow, 
and five pounds of salt with enough water to make it flow well, 
a tenacious whitewash can be secured. 

What has been said thus far relates especially to the work- 
ing over of old trees of common deciduous fruits. Though 
much the same method will succeed with some of the semi- 
tropical fruits and with nut trees, the discussion of their propa- 
gation and grafting over will be deferred to the chapters devoted 
to them, and this will also give opportunity to describe methods 
especially adapted to these fruits. 



CHAPTER X. 
PREPARATION FOR PLANTING. 

The two essentials in preparing land for trees or vines are 
deep and thorough cultivation, and provision for drainage, unless 
the situation is naturally well drained. Drainage will be con- 
sidered in connection with irrigation in another chapter. In 
this place, however, by way of emphasis, it may be remarked 
that high land is not necessarily well drained, although the gen- 
eral feature of the surface may be an incline, nor is low land 
necessarily wet, although the surface may be apparently level. 
For horticultural purposes the drainage of the land must be 
considered on the hillside as well as in the valley, for reasons 
which will be more fully set forth in the chapter on drainage. 

The preparation of land for fruit planting should begin with 
grading. In irrigated orchards this is essential for the equal 
distribution of water. Even where irrigation is not anticipated, 
it is of decided advantage to smooth down hummocks and fill 
sags which are likely to collect water in the rainy season. As 
has been shown in Chapter III, this can be done on most Cal- 
ifornia soils without danger of uncovering a sterile subsoil. 
Some intimation of the method of grading is given at the close 
of Chapter VII. In preparation for the irrigated orchard, and 
the probability of irrigation is now great even in regions where 
formerly rainfall was the sole reliance, it is important that 
accurate grading should be done and the use of the surveyor's 
level and grade stakes will be found a very desirable investment. 
All moving of soil should precede the general plowing. 

For the planting of orchard or vineyard the land must be 
put in as good tilth as possible, and extra expenditure to secure 
this will be amply repaid in the after-growth of the trees and 
vines. If practicable, it will be all the better to have the process 
of preparation begin a year before the plants are to be set. 
This is true either with newly-cleared land, as has been described, 
or with old grain or pasture land which is to be used for fruit. 
Thorough and deep breaking up as soon as practicable to plow 
in the fall, and leaving the surface rough during the winter, 
facilitates the access of air to the lower layers of the soil, and 
in a certain sense may be said to sweeten and enliven it. Fol- 
lowing in the furrow with a subsoil plow is very desirable, either 

(90) 



Plowing Before Planting. 91 

at the first plowing or later. Such treatment of old grain land 
breaks up the old hard-pan. which has probably been tormed by 
years of shallow culture. The preparation should continue 
during the following summer, and can often be made both thor- 
ough and profitable by the growth ol a summer "hoed crop," 
the culture of which will kill out many weeds and secure good 
pulverization of the soil. If no summer crop is grown, the land 
should be kept in cultivation by plowing the weeds under as 
long as the surface soil retains moisture enough to start them. 
A special advantage of such summer-fallow in regions where the 
rainfall is apt to be short is that, by prevention of evaporation, 
the trees or vines set the following winter will have a good part 
of the rainfall of two seasons to grow with, and the result will 
often be very noticeable. If there are supplies of manure avail- 
able, as is often found in old corrals on our grain or stock farms, 
it is better to gather and apply this the winter before the plant- 
ing of the trees. If this work is not done, then it should be left 
imtil after the trees are planted, and then be spread upon the sur- 
face during the winter, and plowed in in the spring after it has 
been in part leached into the soil by the rains. Application 
should be made evenly all over the surface and not massed 
around the roots of the tre(!S, unless it is to be applied as a 
mulch to the surface after the spring cultivation is over, as will 
be considered later. 

If it is thought desirable to plant the land immediately after 
breaking up, put in the plow's as early in the fall as it is possible 
to do deep work, that is, to plow to a depth of ten or twelve 
inches, or more. Harrow- thoroughl}-. If it is still early, cross- 
plow also deeply when the land pulverizes well, and follow in 
the furrow with the subsoil plow, working to a depth of fourteen 
inches or more. For this kind of work good teams are needed, 
and the plow should be sharp and bright. If the work is hard 
for the team, set the plow so as to lake less land, but do not 
sacrifice the depth. Harrow again thoroughly, and the land is 
ready for the trees or vines. 

Avoiding Dead Furrows. — Unless dead furrows can be used 
to advantage for surface drainage in case of heavy rain-storms, 
it will be of decided convenience in laying off to have the field 
free from them. This can, of course, be secured by beginning 
the final plowing at a line in the center of the field, turning all 
furrows inwards. In this case, too, if a right-hand plow is used, 
the team will always turn on unplowed land, and thus avoid 
trampling upon and packing the loose soil. The slight ridge in 
the center of the field formed by the first two furrows can be 
easily leveled by a couple of back furrows, and when properly 
harrowed the field will be found smooth as a tloor for staking 
out for planting. 



92 



Best Arrangement for Trees. 



LAYING OUT FOR PLANTING IN SQUARES. 

It is very desirable, both for convenience in cultivation and 
for the beauty of the orchard, that the trees should stand in 
straight lines, and care should be taken to attain that end. Most 
orchards and vineyards in this State are laid out in squares; 
that is, the rows of trees or vines are all at right angles to each 
other, as shown in the accompanying sketch. This is the sim- 

g' ^ ^ 



i-. 



^i 4.„ 



..<? 



Planting in Squares. 

plest arrangement; and by some of our largest planters is held to 
be the best. It is true that the trees are not equidistant from 
each other in all directions, and that, theoretically at least, there 
is a portion of the ground unused — supposing that the roots 
occupy a circle, as do the branches. Practically, however, it 
may be doubted whether the hungry roots of well-grown trees 
or vines leave any portion of the soil unvisited. 



^ A 



-■a-<a- 



a. ^ 



L ^ a- i. (J- a_ a- a. a. 

^ a- ^ 'a. a_ a. '1 «^- 

L^% a. a.4«_SL 

« r 4 ^ 2. t ^ ^ 
d. (Sl (a_ "iSu (L iL ^ t 

a. a. «L a. ^ a. a. ,a_ 



Double Squares. 



L i I- ^ 1 

i't if: 1 

i I. L 1 1 

L f 1 t. i 

i t 1 i i- i. 

L % 1 ^ i ^ 

i i. i. i 1 

i t It i 

Alternating Squares. 



Methods of Marking Off. 93 

There are also forms of double squares and alternating 
squares available for planting at long distances, with growths 
between, which are ultimately to be cut out, or for vines between 
fmit trees. 

VARIOUS WAYS OF MARKING FOR SQUARES. 

Marking with a Plow. — This method was used in laying off 
some large orchards in the Sacramento Valley. A common 
two-horse turning plow is rigged with a "marker," — a light 
wooden bar extending at right angles from the beam, the bar 
being as long as the desired distance between the rows of trees. 
On the end of this bar a crosspiece is fastened perpendicularly, 
so that it scratches along on the surface of the ground. The 
line of the first furrow has to be designated by a flag stake, to 
which the plowman proceeds. When this is done, the team is 
turned and sent back along the next row, the location of which 
has been fixed by the marker, and so on for the length of the 
field, the marker being turned each time to indicate the next 
furrow. Following the same course the other way of the field 
leaves the trees to be planted at the intersection of the furrows. 

Measure and Sight. — Another method which is quite com- 
monly used and answers a good purpose in small plantings 
is the combination of measure and sight. The sighting stakes 
are usually plasterers' laths pointed at one end and whitewashed 
to make them more visible to the eye. In the use of these it is 
necessary to measure the distances and locate the laths to mark 
the ends of the rows all around the field. Then locate a line of 
laths across the field each way through the center, these laths 
occupying places which the trees of these two central rows will 
fill. After these are in place, measurement can be dispensed 
with, and the job can be finished by sighting through. The 
man on the ends of the rows has three laths to sight by in each 
row, and the stake driver places the stakes as directed by the 
sighter. Good location can be done this way if a man has a 
good eye and patience enough. 

Marking off zvith a Wire. — A measuring wire or chain is, 
perhaps, the best means for getting accurate location of trees 
or vines. It is used either for setting in squares or in other 
arrangement, as will be described presently. Measuring wires 
are made of annealed steel wire about one-eighth of an inch in 
diameter. The length varies according to the wishes of the 
user. If it is desired to lay ofif the plantation in blocks of one 
acre, the wire should be two hundred and eight feet nine inches 
long, for that is approximately the length of one side of a square 
inclosing an acre of ground. But some use a wire as long as 
three hundred feet, when the acre measure is of no consequence; 
and others, in smaller plantings, make the wire just the length 



94 To Find a Square Corner. 

of the piece they have in hand. At each end of the wire is fixed 
a strong iron ring about one and one-half inches in diameter, 
to be sHpped over stakes; some use a larger ring, say three 
inches in diameter, because it is easier to handle in pulling taut. 
Along this wire, patches of solder are placed exactly at the dis- 
tances desired between the rows of trees or vines, and to these 
places pieces of red cloth are sometimes fastened so that the 
points may be easily seen. Another style of measuring wires 
is made of small wire cable about a quarter of an inch in diam- 
eter, made of several strands of small wire. It is more flexible 
and less likely to become kinked than the large wire, and can be 
easily measured and marked ofif to represent the distances at 
which rows of different kinds of trees should be placed. This 
is done by separating the strands a little at the desired points 
and inserting a little piece of red cloth, pressing the wires to- 
gether again and tying firmly with a waxed thread to prevent 
slipping. In this way the same wire can. be easily arranged for 
planting vines or for the trees requiring the greatest distance be- 
tween the rows. Another advantage of the cable is that any 
stretching can be taken up by retwisting, which can not be done 
with the stretching of a single wire. 

Finding a True Corner. — To use the measuring wire for lay- 
ing out trees on the square, it is necessary first to get one corner 
true, and then a field of any size can be marked out accurately. 
Select the side of the field which is to serve as the base of the 
square and stretch the wire along that, say fifteen feet from the 
fence, which will give room enough to turn with the team in 
cultivation or to drive along in picking-time. When the wire 
is thus stretched parallel with the boundary of the field, place a 
stake at each of the distance tags on the wire, and these stakes 
will represent the first row of trees or vines. To find a square 
corner, begin at the starting-point and measure ofif sixty feet 
along this row with a tape line, and put a temporary stake, then 
from the starting-point measure off eighty feet as nearly at 
a right angle with the first line as can be judged with the eye, 
and run diagonally from this point the temporary sixty-foot 
stake. If the distance between these stakes is one hundred feet, 
then the corner is a right angle. Now, having the outside lines 
started at right angles to each other, one can proceed with the 
measuring wire and lay ofT as large an area as he desires, if 
care is taken to have each line drawn parallel with the last, and 
all stakes accurately placed with the tags on the wire — providing 
the land is nearly level or on a uniform grade. In locating trees 
over uneven ground, the measurements will have to be made 
from tree to tree, with the tape line held as nearly to a level as 
possible. 



Quincunx Planting. 95 

Rozvs on Hillsides. — Laying off orchard or vineyard on hill- 
side too steep to plow both ways, there is advantage sometimes 
in placing the rows up and down the hill nearly twice as far 
apart as the rows along the face of the hill. In planting trees 
thus the advantage to be gained is by enabling you to keep the 
team well up the hill; thereby you are able to plow or cultivate 
the trees close on the lower side of the rows. There is no 
difficulty in cultivating the upper side of the rows, for the plow 
or harrow is always below the team. If trees are planted as 
recommended, the team can be guided up the hill a little between 
the rows, then allowed to drop down hill one step, and thus one 
can cultivate the trees close on the lower side. The same rule 
will apply to vines. 

QUINCUNX PLANTING. 

There is much confusion in the use of this term in this State. 
It is, in fact, made to cover almost every kind of arrangement 
which is not on the square. Webster defines the term to mean 




Quincunx. 

^'the arrangement of things, especially of trees, by fives in a 
sciuare, one being placed in the middle of a square." Trees set 
in quincunx would stand as shown in the accompanying dia- 
gram. To locate them in this form it is only necessary to pro- 
ceed as already described for planting in squares, by fixing upon 
the base line and locating two side lines to it at right angles. 
Place the stakes on these two lines just half the distance desired 
between the trees, and have the measuring wire long enough to 
reach across from one line to the other. Near one end of the 



96 Planting in Triajigles. 

wire place another mark just half way between the end and the 
first tree mark; that is, if the trees are to be twenty-four feet 
apart in the squares, this additional mark should be twelve feet 
from the end of the wire. Now set the first row with the end 
of the wire at the corner stake, and set stakes at each twenty-four- 
foot mark. 

Proceed now to the first half-way stake, and instead of put- 
ting the end of the wire at this stake, put the twelve-foot mark 
there. Put stakes now at each twenty-four-foot mark again to 
locate the trees in that row. In the next row put the end of 
the wire at the first stake and proceed as in the first row. There- 
after using the end of the wire and the twelve-foot marks alter- 
nately, the stakes will be set in quincunx all over the field. If 
the midway stakes are now pulled out along the two side lines, 
the remaining stakes show where the trees are to be placed. This 
way of planting locates about seventy-eight per cent more trees 
upon any given area, but it brings the trees at irregular distances 
from each other, and except in furnishing a way to arrange an 
orchard with permanent and temporary trees, there does not 
seem to be any advantage in it. 

PLANTING IN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLES. 

This is the arrangement generally implied when the term 
"quincunx" is wrongly employed. By it the trees are all equally 
distant from each other, and thus the ground as equally divided 

as possible. The arrangement admits 
fifteen per cent more trees to the acre 
than the setting in squares, and the 
ground can be worked in three differ- 
ent directions. This arrangement also 
gives better facilities for irrigation. 
Objections are urged to it, however, 
in that it does not admit of thinning 
trees by removal of alternate rows, as 
is sometimes desirable, and that one 
has to take a zigzag course in driving 
through the orchard. 

Hexagonal planting places the 
trees as shown in the accompanying 
sketch. 
^ „, J . „ It is termed hexagonal because. 

Trees Planted in Hexagons. .1 r- • , e • , 

as the figure consists of six trees in- 
closing a seventh, a line drawn through the encompassing trees 
makes a hexagon. It is also called septuple planting, because 
seven trees enter into its figure. 

An orchard can be laid out in hexagonals by using the 




Distances for Hexagonals. 97 

measuring wire as described for quincunx planting with the 
distance and half-distance marks, except that the guide stakes 
in the side rows must be placed at different distances apart. 
Mr. H. A. Brainard, of San Jose, gives the following useful 
table, showing the distance for side stakes to reach desired dis- 
tance between the trees, and the method of calculating the num- 
bers of trees to the acre by the square and hexagonal or sextuple 
arrangement : — 

Trees set Sextuple. Check-stakes should be 

lofeetapart 8 ft. 8 in. 

12 " " 10" 42-5" 

14 " " 12 " Yi "■ 

16 " " 13 " loj/z " 

18 " " 15" 7 " 

20 " " 17 " 4 " 

21 " " 18 " 2X " 

22 " " 19" Yg" 

24 " " 20 " 9>^ " 

After the field is staked, each alternate stake in the check rows should 
be removed. The following table will show the number of trees to the acre 
by the square and septuple system: — 

Square. Septuple. 

10 feet apart 435 500 

12 " " 302 347 

14 " " 222 255 

16 " " 170 /• 195 

18 " " 134 154 

20 " " 109 125 

21 " " 99 114 

22 " " 90 103 

24 " " 75 86 

For any distance not given in the above table, calculate the number of 
trees to the acre by the square system, and add fifteen per cent. This will 
give the number if planted septuple. 

Laying out Hexagonals zvith a Triangle. — It is possible to lay 
out an orchard in hexagonal form by working from stake to 
stake with an equilateral triangle of dimensions equaling the 
distance required between the trees. 

Take three strips of one-by-two-inch dry pine or redwood, and as long 
as you wish the distance between the trees. Cut the strips the same length, 
and fasten the corners of the triangle firmly together by nailing to pieces of 
pine board six by six inches. 

If the long strips are set up edgewise, the triangle will be much stiffer 
and better to carry. Through the corner boards bore an inch hole, making 
sure that the three sides of the triangle measure exactly the same. If they 
do, the triangle must necessarily be perfect. Then brace it a little by 
nailing a lath across each corner, and it is ready for use. 

Now split out some three-quarter-inch pins, one foot long, from a good, 
straight-grained redwood post. Make one hundred pins for each acre you 
have to lay off. Do not use lath for pins, as they will cost double and will 
not be half as good. 



The Use of a Triangle. 



Three persons must now carry the triangle, beginning on one side of 
the field, say eight feet from the fence, and guided the first time through by 
a line of stakes. Carry the triangle with its side to the line of guide stakes 
and its point in. The head man and the inside man will stick pins, while 
the rear man will slip his corner each time upon the pin set by the head man. 

After the first time across, the man at the inside point of the triangle 
alone will set pins, while the other two fit their corners upon the pins in 
the last row set. Thus one row of pins only is set each time you go across 
the field. 




One Corner of Triangle — All Being Made Alike. 

If the triangle is exact, and the first row of pins is set perfectly straight, 
and the pins are always set perpendicularly, everything will now work like 
a charm and the job will be perfect; and it is so simple and easy that a man 
and two small boys can lay off from five to ten acres in one day. Remem- 
ber that no guide stakes are used anywhere after the first time through. 

The Triangle on Hillside. — The use of the triangle requires 
a Httle nicety in "leveHng up" where the piece is hilly. By 
using a plumb-line at two corners of the triangle, the third cor- 
ner resting on one of the stakes, leveling the triangle and bring- 
ing one of the plumb-lines over another stake already set, the 
position of the other line would determine the position of the 
next stake. This method has worked fairly well, even in places 
where the slope was sufficient to give a fall of six feet between 
the trees, which were set twenty feet apart. 

Locating in Triangles with a Chain. — Instead of a wooden 
triangle, a chain has been tised in this way: — 

First stretch a chain along one side of the ground, setting by it the first 
row of stakes. This forms the base line. Have a piece of chain just twice 
the length of the established distance between trees, with ample rings on 
the ends and a joint in the middle. Put one of the rings over the first 
stake and the other over the second stake. Then take the joint in the 



Laying off with a Chain. 99 

middle of the chain and stretch it out reasonably tight. The wire forms a 
letter V, at the focus of which stick a stake. The point is indicated with 
precision by the joint in the middle of the chain. Then take the ring off 
the first stake and put it over the third stake, leaving the one on the second 
stake where it is. Tighten the chain again, and another point is fixed. 
Thus continue all the base line, shifting the rings alternately, turning over 
the chain as one turns a pair of draughtman's compasses in his hand when 
spacing off a line. The second row of stakes being set, set the third row, 
and so on through the ground. 

The suggestions given in this chapter should indicate ways 
enough to lay off orchard and vineyard ground to answer all 
needs, though there are other good ways not mentioned. It is 
hoped that the instructions will not be regarded as too explicit. 
They are intended for the guidance of the inexperienced planter, 
and will naturally seem laden with detail to those who have 
become familiar with the operations by repeated practise. 



CHAPTER XI. 
PLANTING THE TREES. 

After the field has been graded, thoroughly tilled and care- 
fully laid off as has been described, the next step is digging the 
holes for the trees. "How large shall the holes be?" He was 
a wise fruit grower who, when asked this question, replied, "As 
large as the field." That is to say, it is much better to work 
the whole ground over deeply than to trust to deep holes and 
shallow working elsewhere. Where this is done, the tree holes 
need only be large enough and deep enough to receive the roots 
without folding them in or cramping them up. In a loose, deep 
soil, however, one can dig extra deep and broad holes if he de- 
sires, and will be repaid by extra growth of the tree; but in a 
close, tenacious soil a deep hole is not O'uly undesirable, but 
often positively a danger to the tree, unless drainage of the holes 
is provided artificially. Such holes hold water like a tub, and 
the loosening of the soil deeply facilitates its gathering in the 
hole. Many have found their trees in such places dwindling 
and dying because their roots were soaking in water. 

Planting on Some Shallozv Soils. — As a rule, trees should 
have a deep soil, and for these deep, free loams, California is 
famous, but there are situations where very satisfactory growth 
and production can be had, even when the hard-pan is near the 
surface and the soil would be called shallow. In such places 
it is the character of the subsoil which warrants the tree and 
vine planter in making use of them. The best illustration of 
such situations is the large area of what is called "bed-rock 
land," adjacent to the city of Sacramento. It is about thirty 
years since Mr. James Rutter, of Florin, first noticed that there 
v/ere vines here and there which grew exceptionally well and 
bore large crops of fine fruit. He found by investigation that 
under these vines there were crevices in the bed-rock, and from 
this he took the hint to bore through this hard-pan in the bottom 
of the hole where he placed the tree, and in this way he gained 
access for the roots to the subsoil and egress for the water 
through the permeable substratum. He bores a hole two inches 
in diameter into or through the bed-rock and rams well into it 
one and a half pounds of black blasting powder. After explod- 



Blasting Before Planting. lOi 

ing this, he sometimes bores a three-inch hole about four feet 
below the blast. Instead of blasting in the hole where the tree 
IS to be planted, some bore and blast the hard-pan midway be- 
tween the rows, placing the holes at '"quincunx" with the trees. 
The shattering of the hard-pan between the trees is said to be 
practicable after the trees are growing, and may in certam soils 
relieve trees which are suffering for lack of drainage. A half- 
pound cartridge of dynamite has been successfully used for sub- 
soil blasting. 

There are situations here and there over the State where 
such practise would be beneficial, and in some cases mere dig- 
ging or boring through the impervious stratum avails much. 
On the bench back from the Mokelumne there are spots where 
"lava crusts" overlie gravel, and trees have been well grown by 
cutting holes through the lava to the gravel, filling with good 
soil and planting the trees in these holes. Their roots penetrate 
to the gravel stratum and obtain abundant moisture and nutri- 
ment. This "lava" is quite soft when not exposed to the air, 
but being quarried hardens so as to serve as building stone. In 
certain situations where a shallow layer of soil overlies a heavy 
clay, trees have been blown over, but when a cut has been made 
through the clay, the trees have rooted deeply and have with- 
stood the winds. 

It is becoming more and more apparent, however, that for 
commercial plantings of trees and vines all such defective soils 
should be avoided. There is plenty of good, deep land to be 
had, and the burden of ameliorating poor land is a serious hand- 
icap in the competition which has brought production to very 
narrow margins of profit. 

Digging the Holes. — Holes for tree planting may be dug at 
a leisure time after the laying ofi of the field, even though it is 
not designed to plant the trees immediately, but our largest 
planters do not approve the practise. In such cases the sides of 
the holes should always be freshly pared ol¥ before the trees are 
put in, because the rain and sunshine are apt to cement the sides. 
In digging holes the surface earth should always be thrown on 
one side and the lower soil on another. The object of this is 
to have the top soil to place in direct contact with the roots 
when the tree is planted, the lower soil being used to fill up the 
hole with. 

TREE SETTERS. 

No matter how carefully the stakes are placed in laying of¥ 
the orchard, the trees will not easily come in line unless some 
handy device is used for bringing the stem just in the place occu- 
pied by the stake which was thrown out m digging. These 



I02 Two Tree- Setters. 

devices are called "tree-setters," and there are a number of de- 
signs. Two are given, either of which will give good results. 
Take a piece of board one inch thick, four inches wide, and five 
feet long; bore an inch hole in the center, and one at each end 
at equal distance from the center; then cut a piece from one side 



/ V o\ 



... I 

Bar for Tree Setting. 

of the board, marked by a square, the corner resting in the mid- 
dle of the center hole. Make two stakes, each one foot long, 
that will easily pass through the end holes. Place the center of 
this board against the stake, where the tree is to be planted; 
push the stakes into the ground through the holes in the ends, 
then lift the board from position and proceed to dig the hole. 
When dug, replace the board over the end stakes in its former 
position, then plant the tree with its trunk resting against the 
center notch in the board, and you have it in just the right place. 
Another setter is in the form of a triangle: Take three pieces 
of plain one-inch stuff three to four inches wide and four feet 
long, and nail them together, forming a three-cornered frame, 
letting the ends project sufficiently to form a corner, as shown in 
the drawing. Next make a couple of smooth, hard stakes, well 
sharpened, and about a foot or sixteen inches in length. When 




Triangular Trie Setter. 



vou are ready to set your trees, place the frame flat upon the 
groimd with one corner firmly and fairly against the stake which 
marks the place where the tree is to stand. Now in the other 
two corners stick the stakes already prepared for the purpose. 
This done pull up the stake against which the frame was first 



Selecting Good Trees. 103 

placed — the one indicating a place for a tree — remove the frame, 
being careful in doing so not to move the other two stakes, 
which must be left to be used while setting the tree. After 
the hole is dug and everything ready for setting the tree, again 
place the frame against the two standing stakes, let the tree drop 
into the other corner, which will help support it while the dirt is 
being placed about the roots; and this will bring the tree exactly 
where the stake was originally. If the stakes are properly put 
in line, so will be the trees. 

These setters are described as they are used when the hole 
is dug and the tree set at the same time. Such is the ordinary 
practise in planting. If one wishes to dig the holes beforehand, 
it is necessary to furnish more stakes, as two have to be left 
beside each hole to mark the position of the setter when the 
planting is done. Besides its use in bringing a tree into line, 
the tree-setter enables one to judge of the depth of setting as 
compared with the surface of the surrounding ground. It is 
not easy to determine this with the eye if the hole be a large one. 
Where the measuring wire is used to set the stakes, it is some- 
times stretched across again after the holes are dug, the tags on 
the wire thus indicating the places for the trees of the whole row. 
The trouble with this practise is the bother of having the wire 
in the way while filling and tramping the earth around the roots. 

SELECTING TREES. 

In the purchase of trees it is well to patronize nurserymen 
in your own district, providing they are honest and intelligent 
men, who keep themselves informed as they should about their 
business. The advice of such a local nurservman is often of 
great value to the newcomer, tor he will know by his experience 
and observation much about the adaptations of fruits and vari- 
eties thereof to the region. If, for any reason, local nurseries 
do not meet your needs, seek some well-established nursery at a 
distance. It is much safer to deal directly with the grower of 
the trees than to patronize traveling agents. Where, however, 
these agents are the accredited representatives of well-known 
establishments, they may save the planter time and trouble by 
taking his order for him. So-called "tree peddlers," who are 
jobbers in trees and in too many cases send you refuse trees 
which they pick up cheap wherever they can. and label them to 
suit, without respect to truth or honesty, should be resolutely 
avoided, no matter what inducements or blandishments they 
may offer. 

It is desirable, if possible, to visit the nursery yourself, and 
see the stock which is to be furnished you. The trees should 
have a good healthy look, with clean, bright bark and of size 



I04 Lifting Trees from Nursery. 

enough to indicate a good, free growth. The matter of size is 
not the only point to consider, for size of the top is not so de- 
sirable as well-matured wood and plenty of roots. On the other 
hand, stunted trees are not, as a rule, worth planting, for a 
stunted tree, like a stunted calf, does not make a good after- 
growth. There are cases, however, in which, by extra cultiva- 
tion in good soil, fine trees have been grown even from "culls" 
from the nursery. The best rule is to select trees of good me- 
dium size, straight and healthy. In judging size, however, one 
must take California and not Eastern standards, because our 
nursery stock, if well grown, invariably is of much greater size 
than Eastern. Ask to see samples of the roots as well as the 
tops and do not purchase trees unless the roots are healthy 
looking and free from knots or excrescences. Gnarly and 
knotty roots in the young tree are a sure sign of insect pests 
or of unhealthy growth, and planting such trees has occasioned 
our orchardists immense loss. Many have been led into pur- 
chasing poor trees because they may be had cheap. A tree 
selected merely because it is cheap may prove the most expen- 
sive thing a man can put in the ground. 

Guarding against Insects. — The top of the tree should be 
carefully examined to discover scale insects if there be any. For 
this purpose a hand-magnifier should be used. Such a glass 
should always be in the fruit grower's pocket. One can be 
bought at any optician's for a dollar or two, which will fold into 
its case so as to be carried without scratching. Our nursery- 
men, by forsaking old infested locations and obtaining new 
ground, now sell much cleaner trees than they did a few years 
ago. But still it is well to be always on the watch for pests. 
Disinfection of nursery stock is now officially provided. Details 
of treatment will be given in the chapter on injurious insects. 

TAKING TREES FROM THE NURSERY. 

Trees should be carefully taken from the nursery rows so as 
to obtain a good amount of small branching roots. In lifting 
from the home nursery, digging with well-sharpened spades, 
which will sever the long roots cleanly, is perhaps the best 
method. In the large nurseries the newly-invented tree-diggers 
are generally used. They have two revolving coulters, which 
cut through the surface soil each side of the trees, and a sharp, 
curved blade, which is drawn through the ground under the 
trees, loosening the soil and severing the long roots cleanly. 
The tree is then easily lifted, and has generally a much better 
root system than by the old style of "ploughing out," which 
broke ofif so many of the fibrous roots and lacerated the larger 
ones. Whether the taproot should be retained or not is not 



Treatment of Ntirsery Trees. 105 

worth discussing' on theoretical grounds. As a matter of fact 
and practise, the taproot cuts no figure at aU in Cahfornia or- 
chard planting to-day, although the discussion of the question 
was very warm in this State thirty years ago. It is important, 
however, that the planter should have as many small lateral 
foots as he can get. The small fibrous roots are usually of 
little account, as they seldom survive transplanting, and it is 
better to clip them away, if the time can be afforded, as they 
often prevent the proper close contact of the soil with the larger 
roots. Cutting back all roots to short stubs at the base of the 
stem has succeeded in some instances in California on moist low 
lands, but longer roots are far safer in the deep drying of the 
surface layer which is to be expected in this State. 

The roots, after lifting, should not be pernntted to dry. 
Hence, in hauling from the nursery to the farm, the trees should 
be well covered with wet straw and old sacks, or, if shipped from 
the nursery to distant points, should be well packed. The best 
way to pack trees is, undoubtedly, to box them in with wet straw, 
but it costs less and they usually carry well considerable dis- 
tances if carefully bundled with tules, the roots packed m wet 
straw, and, especially about the roots, the packing and covering 
bound down tight with ropes to prevent drying out. 

Attention should be paid to hauling away trees from the 
railway stations as soon as possible after arrival. It is not un- 
common for shipments to lie on the station platforms for days, 
often when a desiccating north wind is blowing. Such treat- 
ment soon takes the life out of the rootlets, and often, no doubt, 
the nurseryman is blamed for failure of trees which have suffered 
some such neglect as this, either from transportation companies 
or from the purchasers. 

Heeling In. — On arrival at the farms, trees should be "heeled 
in" as soon as possible; even if it is the intention to plant at once, 
heel them in just the same, for delays arise often in the most 
unexpected manner. To heel in, dig a trench or plow a deep 
furrow, or a double furrow, in lig"ht, moist, but well-drained 
soil; put in the trees singly side by side, removing all the pack- 
ing material carefully from the roots, laying the tops all one way, 
and then shovel the earth over the roots until they are well 
covered with loose soil, and be sure that the soil sifts down well 
between the roots. Ordinarily this treatment will hold the trees 
in good condition for a considerable time if need be. If, how- 
ever, they have become dry before arrival, the bundles should be 
thoroughly drenched with water before heeling in. In extreme 
cases, where the top shows drying by shrinking and shriveling 
of the bark, the trees should be drenched, and then they should 
be covered root and top with earth for two or three days, when. 



io6 Time to Plant Trees. 

if the trouble has not gone too far, the bark will recover its 
smoothness and plumpness. It should be very seldom, how- 
ever, that a lot of trees is allowed to get into such condition by 
neglect. In heeling in it will be found a great convenience and 
a safeguard against possible confusion by loss of labels, if each 
variety as taken from the packing is placed by itself in the 
trench. Nurserymen generally attach a label to each small bun- 
dle, if the trees are of several varieties, and the novice is apt to 
lose all track of his sorts when heeling in the trench, unless he 
J] eels in each kind by itself, leaving the nurseryman's label to 
mark the whole lot of each kind. 

If the planter has his own ideas of after-treatment of his 
trees, or if he is a beginner and desires to adopt the suggestions 
which will be laid down in this book, he should insist that the 
nurseryman shall not trim up nor cut back the trees before 
packing. Have the trees packed just as they are lifted from the 
ground. The work toward the shaping of the tree should be 
done after it is planted in the orchard. 

PLANTING THE ORCHARD. 

The best time for planting out deciduous fruit trees in most 
parts of California is immediatelv after the first winter rain 
which is sufificiently heavy to moisten the soil to a considerable 
depth. The young tree should be dormant before being moved, 
and if its leaves have fallen it is good evidence of its dormancy. 
Such, however, is the effect of the climate of California, more 
apparent in some years than others, and with some kinds of 
fruit than others, that the yoimg tree retains a small part of its 
activity very late, and in such cases it is not practicable to wait 
for the complete falling of the leaves. vSometimes for conve- 
nience of work, the trees have to be lifted before this takes place, 
and in such case it is desirable to remove the leaves to lessen 
evaporation. It is probably better to transplant in this condi- 
tion for the sake of early setting in its new position than to wait 
for all the leaves to drop. This statement is not. intended tO' in- 
clude nursery stock which is kept growing late in the season by 
late irrigation. Such trees are not desirable. 

Time to Plant. — Early planting of common orchard fruits is 
of advantage for several reasons. First, an early-planted tree 
gets the full benefit of the season's rainfall, whatever it may be, 
and a late-planted tree, in a year with short rainfall, is apt to 
suffer during its first season's growth, unless it can be irrigated. 
The two main things to observe are the dormancy of the tree 
and the proper condition of the soil, and both of these are most 
apt to coincide in most parts of California about the first of 



Proper Condition of Soil. 107 

January, There will, however, be some variation from year to 
year, and different parts of the State disagree as to date. Hence, 
the general rule must be based on conditions, that of the tree 
and that of the soil. If the novice can not judge these for him- 
self, he must get the advice of some one of ejcperience in the 
locality. 

The dormant period of a tree in California, as has been 
stated in another connection, is very short. As many cold- 
climate annual plants become perennial here, so our deciduous 
trees, in comparatively frostless portions of the State, evince a 
tendency to become evergreen. The period of dormancy in the 
root is also shorter than the inactivity of the top. Trees trans- 
planted early are found to have their root wounds calloused over 
and new rootlets considerably advanced before the buds swell. 
Therefore, by early planting the tree begins soon to take hold 
upon the soil, the latter being well settled around them by rains, 
which often follow early planting, and the high winds, which 
are apt to come in the spring in some parts of the State, find 
the tree well anchored and ready to maintain itself. 

Again, the proper condition of soil, if not seized at its first 
coming, may not recur until after the great storms of the winter 
are over, say in February or March (in most parts of the State), 
and then often the buds are bursting into bloom and leaf. Plant- 
ing when the soil is water-soaked and cold is very undesirable, 
for in such condition it can not be properly disposed about the 
roots, and trees moved at this period are apt to show their dis- 
like of the treatment. If the work has been delayed unavoid- 
ably, so that early planting can not be done, it is better to keep 
the trees heeled in until the proper soil condition returns, even 
if it be rather late, for a little extra attention to cultivation for 
retention of moisture will pull through a late-planted tree. 

These remarks are of very wide application in this State, 
but there are exceptions. In our high altitudes, where the cli- 
mate approaches Eastern conditions in cold and snowfall, prac- 
tise in planting will also approximate Eastern methods. In re- 
gions of very heavy rainfall and on the upper coast where the 
rainy season and moisture from fogs are prolonged late in the 
spring, late planting is safer and surer than in the warmer, drier 
parts of the State. 

Another consideration, too, is the slope of the land to be 
planted. Our hillside fruit growers in regions of heavy winter 
storms sometimes plant slopes, which, if plowed deep in' the fall, 
are apt to wash badly during the heavy winter rains. On such 
slopes it is better to plow late in the winter, after the heavy 
storms are over, and plant when the soil has become warm and 
mellow. 



io8 Economical P/aiitiiiz. 



THE OPERATION OF PLANTING. 



Tree planting should be carefully and well done, but it need 
not necessarily be slowly done. With a kind soil deeply worked 
and just in the right condition tor planting, trees may be put in 
well and rapidly. Two men work together at a decided advan- 
tage. Using the straight "tree-setter," which has already been 
described, one takes each end, and as soon as the center notch in- 
closes the tree stake, the setter stakes are pushed into the soil, the 
"setter" is laid aside, and the two men, taking up their shovels or 
spades, begin first around the outside of the hole, throwing all the 
surface dirt on the same side of the hole and leaving the tree stake 
to be thrown out last, because its remaining serves to center the 
hole. The lower soil is now thrown to the other side of the 
hole, and when depth enough is reached, the soil at the bottom 
of the hole is loosened up to the depth of a shovel-thrust, with- 
out removing it from the hole. A shovelful or two of the sur- 
face soil is thrown into the center of the hole, being allowed to 
remain higher in the center, because this generally furnishes a 
•cushion about the natural shape of the under surface of the root 
■system of the tree. Now replace the tree-setter upon its end 
pegs, let one man hold the tree with its stem in the central notch 
in the setter, and while the other man shovels in the surface earth 
rather slowly at first, the man who holds the tree with one hand 
will spread out the roots, pulverize and pack the earth around 
them, being sure that no cavities are left under any of the roots, 
but that their surfaces everywhere come in contact with the soil, 
and that they spread out as widely as possible. The earth is 
being continuously put in by the shoveler, and when the roots 
are covered the planter steps in the hole and carefully firms the 
soil down upon the roots by tramping (especially at the cut ends 
-of the roots around the outer side of the hole), at the same time 
judging of the perpendicularity of the tree with his eye. When 
this is done, both men use their shovels and fill up the hole with 
the earth taken from below, being sure to leave the last few 
inches at the surface pulverized, but untramped, unless the soil 
ibe very light so that tramping will not overpack it. Some o'^e 
;said long ago that one should not plant a tree as he does a post, 
Tamming down the earth to the very top of the hole. Many 
trees are doubtless ruined by overzeal in this respect. 

The shovel has been mentioned frequently as the tool to be 
used in planting. Where the soil is deeply plowed, well worked, 
and free from stone, the shovel is the most rapid tool. Under 
other conditions the long-handled spade, and in some cases the 
long-handled spading-fork. serves admirably in loosening the 
■soil at the bottom of the holes and in breaking up lumps while 
filling in. One man with a shovel or spade, and the other with 
the fork, makes a good combination in this respect. 



General Suggestions. 109 

Planting in a Furrow. — A practise which has been largely 
followed in the Sacramento Valley and which attains greatest 
speed and cheapness consists in laying ofif as described on page 
93, and then proceeding with a heavy listing plow, followed by 
a subsoil plow in the same furrow. The trees are then rapidly 
set with the least digging. This is all done before the field is 
plowed. Plowing immediately follows planting. The advan- 
tages of this method are ease of work on firm ground instead of 
a plowed surface, and escape of injury to this surface by men and 
teams in planting after plowing. 

RANDOM SUGGESTIONS. 

The roots of every tree should be examined before planting. 
All large root ends should have a fresh, clean cut with a sharp 
knife or shears. Make a slanting cut with the cut surface on 
the underside of the root. Where a root is mangled or bruised, 
it should in most cases be cut back to a sound place. 

The tree should be placed if possible with the same side 
toward the sun as was exposed to the sun in the nursery; at all 
events, the wound made by the cutting away of the seedling stock 
above the bud should be at the north or northeast, in order that 
this weak point may be shaded as much as possible from the 
afternoon sun. 

If the roots of the young tree grow more to one side than 
the other, place the strongest roots toward the prevailing wind. 

The use of water to settle the earth around the roots is 
sometimes desirable in sections where the rainfall is light or un- 
certain. Pour in the water after the hand-work in spreading 
the roots and in pressing the soil under and around them has 
been done and the hole partly filled. When the water has soaked 
away, fill the hole with fine earth without tramping. In early 
planting in parts of the State where the rainfall is abundant, 
there is no need of the troublesome process of water-settling; 
in late planting, however, it will sometimes be found of advan- 
tage. Puddling the roots, or dipping them in thin mud and 
planting with this mud adhering, is governed by much the same 
conditions as water-settling; it may insure the growth of the tree 
when otherwise it might be seriously injured by drouth. With 
puddled roots especial care should also be taken to leave the 
surface loose to prevent evaporation. In making puddle, use 
loamy soil and never adobe, for in dry time the latter will bake 
around the roots and often kill the tree. 

The Use of Manure. — Never put manure in the hole with 
the tree. Sometimes the injunction is. Never put anything but 
well-rotted manure in the hole. It is better to put none of any 
kind. Manure should be spread upon the ground after plant- 



no speed in Planting. 

iiig. The rains then leach it out and it may be turned under in 
the spring plowing. There are, however, light soils in the drier 
parts of the State where turning under manure in the spring is 
a disadvantage, as it makes the soil too porous and facilitates 
evaporation. On such soils, extra care should be taken to have 
the manure thoroughly decomposed by composting, as will be 
described in the chapter on fertilizers, and all applications should 
be made either late in the spring to act as a mulch during the 
summer, or if a mulch is not thought desirable, apply the manure 
in the fall before the first rains, so that it may be turned under at 
the first plowing and have the whole winter for disintegration. 
In this dry climate there is often misapprehension, especially 
among newcomers, as to what is well-rotted manure. They 
take the scrapings of the corral, which have been trampled and 
pulverized, but which, having been kept dry, have never rotted. 
When this is put in the holes with the tree and then moistened 
by rainfall or irrigation, it will burn the tree, the first sign of 
the injury being the drying up of the leaves. It is, on the whole, 
safest and best to put nothing but well-pulverized surface scii 
around the roots of the young tree. 

Depth of Planting. — Tlie depth to which trees should be set 
has always been a matter of discord among planters. The saf- 
est rule under ordinary circumstances is to get the tree as nearly 
as possible the same depth it stood in the nursery row; that is, 
so as to have it stand that way when the ground has settled, or 
the surface returned by cultivation to its normal level. In plant- 
ing in loose soil in the drier parts of the State, it is often desir- 
able to plant rather low, because several inches depth of the 
surface soil become dry, and it is desirable that the roots should 
be well in the moist layer. But if irrigation is to be practised, 
it must be remembered that the water level will rise when the 
soil is saturated, and deep-planted trees are apt to sufifer. The 
experience of recent years is decidedly against deep planting, 
which used to be advised because of our dry climate. Thou- 
sands of trees have been ruined by planting too deep. 

Speed in Planting. — On good soil, well prepared, trees can 
be put in rapidly and the job still be well done. It is reported 
that on one occasion, in planting almonds, twenty men finished 
sixty-four acres from Friday noon to Wednesday night, plac- 
ing the stakes, digging the holes, and planting the trees. 
This would be almost three-quarters of an acre per day per man. 
In planting peaches and apricots an average of one hundred 
trees per day to the man has been attained. On the mellow 
loam, in another case, the average was one hundred and twenty- 
five trees to the man, digging holes two feet square in land 
which had been plowed twelve inches deep. Such work is only 



Mapping and Labeling. 1 1 1 

possible on good soil, well prepared, and by men who work well 
together. 

Mapping and Labeling. — Where mixed varieties of fruit are 
planted, the orchard should be mapped as soon as the trees are 
set. A good durable map is made of the glazed muslin, such 
as carpenters and architects use for their drawings. The map 
can easily be drawn to a scale by using a fraction of an mch to 
represent a foot. After the map is made, it can be rolled on a 
broom stick and is easily preserved. With such a record, the 
grower need not care what becomes of the labels, as he can 
locate a variety any time by its row and tree number. If, how- 
ever, one desires labels, let them be made in this way: Take a 
piece of common sheet zinc five inches wide. Across this cut 
pieces three-quarters of an inch wide at one end and tapering 
to a point at the other. Near the wider end write plainly with 
a common lead-pencil the name of the variety. This will get 
brighter by exposure to the weather. The small end may be 
coiled around the branch of the tree; it will yield as the tree 
grows and will do no injury. Such labels will last for a long 
time. Labels attached by a cord or wire should be removed 
as soon as the trees are set, for they are apt to be forgotten 
and the tree seriously injured by the cutting in of the ligature. 
Even when labels are used the map is the only surety, because 
any kind of a label is apt to be lost by accident or by malice or 
mischief of intiaiders. 

Mulching. — Although early-planted trees on deep soils in 
regions of sufficient rainfall need only good cultivation after 
planting, there are cases in which mulching is desirable. Va- 
rious light materials may be used for a mulch, but nothing is 
better than well-rotted straw, in which fermentation has killed 
all weed seed. Apply it tO' a distance of two feet around the 
tree, and to a depth of not less than six inches. It is best 
done as soon as the tree is planted, and is to be especially 
recommended when late planting is practised. Even in local- 
ities of light rainfall, if the trees are well mulched early in the 
winter, irrigation may be unnecessary for the young deciduous 
tree. Trees planted very late in the spring may, by using great 
care and mulching well, make as great a growth as those set 
out early in W'inter. This should not be an excuse for late plant- 
ing, but we mention it to show that where late planting is 
necessary, mulching will help the trees to pull through. It is a 
far easier way of keeping the ground moist than by irrigating. 
Of course this does not mean that a mulch will obviate irrigation 
v/bere systematic irrigation is found necessary, though there are 
indications that irrigation may often be lessened, and in some 
cases obviated, by extra cultivation or mulching, at least until 
the trees come into bearing. 



112 Just after Planting. 

Guarding against Sunburn. — Newly-set trees should be 
protected against sunburn. There is nothing easier and neater 
than to push a "shake"* into the ground so that its shadow will 
shade the stem of the tree from the afternoon sun. If set on 
the southwest side, it will do this. Where shakes are not at 
hand or are too expensive, the stem of the tree may be bundled 
with straw or wrapped with paper. Manufactured "tree pro- 
tectors" of paper which are readily adjusted around the trees 
are now largely sold. Such protectors, when made of blackened 
paper, have been found to invite sunburn instead of preventing it. 
This objection does not hold to the use of light-colored material. 
Whitewash made according to the formula given at the close 
of Chapter IX is a good protection from sunburn. For young 
trees, however, it should be made with air-slacked lime, which 
has lost some of its causticity. Another whitewash, which has 
been largely used for young trees, consists of four ounces of 
whale-oil soap dissolved in each gallon of water, whitening be- 
ing stirred in to give the solution a paint-like consistency. Mil- 
lions of trees have perished in this State, and as many more been 
condemned to sickly lives, because of sunburn, and borers which 
seek the injured bark for entrance. Pruning has much to do 
with saving trees from this evil, as will be shown in the proper 
connection, but in the hotter parts of the State, the first precau- 
tion should be to shade the bark of the young tree with some 
artificial protection. 

Cutting Back at Planting. — Whatever idea the grower may 
have as to shaping his tree, it must be cut back when planted. 
Lifting from the nursery has removed a considerable part of the 
root system of the young tree and the top must be reduced ac- 
cordingly. The planter who dislikes to sacrifice the fine top 
will sacrifice future growth and vigor by retaining it. The tree 
may struggle through and regain strength, but it will for years 
be smaller than if it had been properly cut back at planting. 
If the moisture supply should be short, a tree may die the first 
summer which would have survived if differently treated at plant- 
ing. The manner of cutting back depends somewhat upon the 
style of pruning to be followed afterward, as will be considered in 
the next chapter. 



♦Shakes are pieces of wood three feet long, six inches wide, and ont-quarter of an inch 
thick, split or sawed from California redwood. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PRUNING ORCHARD TREES AND THINNING FRUIT. 

It is not intended to enter into a discussion of the general 
theories of pruning. The reader desiring to pursue them is re- 
ferred to the abundant Hterature on the subject in Eastern and 
European treatises. The effort to approve or condemn these 
theories by considering them in the Hght of CaHfornia experience 
and observation might lead to interesting conclusions, but it has 
no place in a work aiming merely at an exposition of what 
appears to be the most satisfactory practise in California fruit 
growing. It will be found that this practise varies somewhat in 
the different regions of California, sometimes in degree, some- 
times in kind, because of different local conditions, and it might 
be found that nearly all reasonable theories of pruning could be 
verified in California experience. 

Pruning in California is at present almost exclusively a 
shaping process. Our fruit trees are naturally so prone to bear 
fruit that pruning to produce fruitfulness is seldom thought of, 
and still more rarely practised, while pruning to reduce bearing 
wood, and thus decrease the burden of the tree, is quite widely 
done, to take the place, in part, of thinning out the fruit. Prun- 
ing to restore vigor to the tree, as in cutting back to make a new 
head, is also rather a rare proceeding, probably because our 
trees are generally too young to require it. We prune, then, 
for shape and for the many practical advantages which inhere 
in the form now prevailing in California orchards. Some of 
these advantages are peculiar to our climate; others we share 
with those who advocate a similar form elsewhere. 

Our best orchards of the same fruits in adjacent localities 
are almost identical in form and general appearance of the trees, 
and those more distant differ chiefly in the extent to which the 
same principles are applied. And this is not because the trees 
are allowed to follow their natural mclination, which should 
secure resemblance, but because their natural bent is resolutely 
conquered by agreement of growers that they know what is 
good for the tree; and this substantial unanimity is the result of 
the experience of the last forty-five years. People possessed of 
the art temperament sometimes complain of the depressing uni- 
formity and artificiality of orchard-tree shapes in California. 

(IT3) 



114 Reasons for Pnining. 

They are apt to lament the fact that systematic orcharding des- 
troys the picturesqueness of tree-growth. They snould under- 
stand that such conception of a fruit tree has no place in com- 
mercial fruit growing. The producing tree is the result of the 
conception of an agency to serve certain purposes. The or- 
chardist does not pursue uniformity merely for its own sake, but 
rather for the purpose it serves, and the fact that many thinking 
men have practically agreed upon a certain form as an ideal of 
producing ability is demonstration that such form is, at least, 
approximately correct. There is an industrial conception of an 
agency which is necessarily and essentially different from an 
art-conception of picturesqvteness based upon the feral type. The 
wild tree is rude and crude from a cultural point of view. 

PRACTICAL PURPOSES OF PRUNINC;. 

One of the first things for the beginner to undertake as he 
approaches the practise of pruning trees and vines is to form 
some conception of the purposes to be served. Imitation is not 
the foundation of intelligent pruning, though it yields many val- 
uable suggestions. Satisfactory work rests upon a correct 
understanding of the reasons for each act and to the attainment 
of this, all study, observation and experience should tend. Pos- 
sessing this, one can proceed capably, modifying method to 
meet condition, and producing desirable results. Receive all 
suggestions and then go quietly to the tree and study your prob- 
lem in its shade. The tree is the best revelator of its needs. 
Some of the best primers in California are men who were un- 
trained to horticulture before they entered upon their orchard 
v/ork. Reading, discussion, systematic instruction are all valu- 
able. They save much time and many errors, but recourse to 
the tree affords the sovereign test of attainment. 

These may be counted among the practical purposes to be 
attained by pruning in California: (a) Convenience of the 
grower; ih) health and strength of the tree; (c) regulation of 
heat and light; id) attainment of strong bearing wood; (e) at- 
tainment of size in fruit; (/) promotion of regular bearing. 
Examine trees with reference to their embodiment of these char- 
acters and one can hardly fail to secure rays of light upon the 
subject of pruning which seems dark to so many. 

Convenience. — Trees which branch near the ground are most 
<iuickly and cheaply handled in all the operations of pruning, 
spraying, fruit-thinning and picking. Low trees with obliquely- 
rising branches are more easily cultivated than any form with 
horizontal branches, unless the head is carried so high that the 
animals pass easily under the tree. To do this sacrifices all the 
other conveniences and economies which actually determine 



Vigor Promoted by Pruning. 115 

profit, and is really out of the question from a commercial point 
of view. Sometimes it does not pay to pick some fruits at a 
certain distance above the ground, when picking at half that 
distance yields a profit. 

Health and Strength. — It is imperative in most parts of this 
State that the sunshine be not allowed to touch the bark during 
the heat of the day. This protection is secured even for young 
trees by low branching and the encouragement of small, low 
laterals, fhe low tree v;ith properly spaced branches attains 
superior strength by virtue of thick, strongly knit, short growth 
between branches, and by its strong, stifif, obliquely-rising 
growth sustams weight which brings horizontal branches to the 
ground, and thus even high-headed trees are liable to contin- 
ually increasing interference with cultivation, and the desperate 
grower has to raise the head of his tree higher into the air and 
farther above the profit line, while at the same time he renders 
it more liable to sunburn, to bark-binding, and to unthrift by 
forcing the sap to flow an unnecessary distance and through wood 
and bark which impede its movement. Besides, a low tree 
escapes stress by strong winds which a high tree invites and at 
the same time is less able to withstand. I'runing for health and 
strength of tree also includes the removal of unthrifty or dis- 
eased parts, which are not only an encumbrance to the tree but 
may communicate to other parts the causes of their ill condition. 

Heat and Light. — The maintenance of strong bearing wood 
in the lower part of the tree is conditioned upon the proper prun- 
ing of the top of the tree. How far the upper levels or the 
shade-layer of the tree can be safely opened, depends upon the 
local climate in each fruit region. The rule must be the higher 
the summer heat the denser the tree; the lower the heat the thin- 
ner the tree; but everywhere the proper condition of openness 
must be constantly in view in pruning. Not alone must this be 
done to maintain thrifty growth below, but it is also essential to 
the best growth and ripening of the fruit in the lower and interior 
parts of the tree. Fruit inferior in size, color and quality results, 
in part, from lack of pruning to regulate the admission of light 
and heat, sometimes one sometimes both, to the shaded portion 
of the tiee. 

Bearing JVood.— Good fruit develops on good bearing wood 
and good bearing wood is the product of proper degrees of light 
and heat, as has just been urged. But bearing wood in the case 
of some fruits is new wood, and reduction of old wood for the 
purpose of forcing the growth of new wood must be constantly 
in mind. Renewal is more or less a consideration with all trees, 
and especially the securing of strong new wood. This is a point 
upon which close study of the bearing tree will yield most satis- 
factory suggestions. 



ii6 Best Form of Tree. 

Size of Fruit. — The size of fruit, providing the. tree is healthy 
and vigorous, depends upon the character and amount of bearing 
wood which the tree is allowed to carry. Removal of part of 
the fruit burden is done by thinning after it is well set, but this 
labor should always be minimized by antecedent pruning, which 
adjusts the retention of bearing wood according to the vigor, 
size and bearing habit of the tree. Thinning out of bearing 
shoots and spurs, when either are clearly seen to be in excess, 
should be the constant study of the pruner. 

Regular Bearing. — This point is largely involved in the pre- 
ceding and affords an additional incentive. Regulating the 
amount of fruit borne in one year involves the profit of two years, 
because a tree can not produce an excessive amount of fruit and 
perfect good fruit buds for the following year. It may generally 
make buds which will bloom, but not always that. If it does 
make the bloom, it is no guaranty that the bloom will be strong., 
and effective for bearing. Consequently, pruning for reasonable 
amount of bearing should always be borne in view and should 
be practised at the close of the year of non-bearing with particular 
diligence, if the alternate year bearing habit is to be broken up. 

The foregoing are among the practical purposes to be served 
in pruning. There are others, but these will suffice to emphasize 
a single point, and that is, that pruning can not be compressed 
into a single formula, nor can one learn it by a recipe. There 
are various ends to attain ; they may be attained in different ways, 
although it is not strange that substantial agreement in methods 
does largely prevail. It is better to try to understand the pur- 
poses than to memorize formulae. Get the tree and its interest 
clearly in the mind; have an ideal toward which to work; be 
more interested in why a neighbor prunes in a certain way than 
how he does it. Learn constantly by all available means, and 
at the same time study the visible forms and aim to understand 
their fullest significance. 

FORM OF TREE BEST SUITED TO CALIFORNIA CONDITIONS. 

The form of deciduous fruit tree which prevails with singu- 
lar uniformity all over the State is the "vase." or "goblet," or 
wine-glass" form, all these terms signifying a similar general 
shape. There are different ways in which this form is secured 
and maintained in different part? of the State, and with different 
fruits, which will be especially noted in the chapters devoted to 
these fruits. 

The mainspring of success in California is to grow low trees. 
Low is a term admitting of degrees, it is true, and may imply a 
trunk six inches up to one of two feel, in the clear. In addition 
to the general advantages of low-trained trees, which have been 



California Vase Form. irj 

described, there are special reasons for this form in California. 
Hundreds of thousands of trees have been destroyed by the ex- 
posure of a long, bare trunk to the rays of the afternoon sun. 
The sunburned sides have given the conditions desired by borers, 
and destruction has cjuickly followed. Sometimes young trees 
have not survived their first season in the orchard, because of 
burned bark; or this, with the added injury by the borers. It 
is also found by California experience that growth is more vig- 
orous in the branches when they emerge near the ground. Even 
where actual burning may not occur the travel of the sap through 
the longer distance of trunk is undesirable. It is believed, also, 
that benefit results from shading of the ground at the base of the 
trees, by reducing evaporation, and by maintaining a tempera- 
ture of soil better suited to vigorous root-growth. 

But whatever may be the reasons, the fact is indisputable, 
the higher the prevailing summer temperature, and the greater 
the aridity, the lower should the trees be headed. Trees which 
will do well in the central and upper coast region and adjacent 
to the bay of San Francisco', with twenty-four to thirty-six inches 
of clear trunk would dwindle and probably perish in the heated 
valleys in all parts of the State. In such situations, both north 
and south, the best practise is to head the tree fifteen, twelve, 
and some even hold as low as six inches from the ground. There 
will always be some difference in opinion as to detail, but the 
necessity of making the trunk short enough to be efifectually 
shaded by the foliage is admitted by all growers. 

Characteristics of the California Vase Form. — This vase 
form is a product of French ingenuity in the training of dwarf 
trees, but it has undergone very marked modification in Califor- 
nia, losing much of the accuracy of its outline and gaining vastly 
in speed of work and in bearing capacity of tree without sacri- 
ficing any practical value which inheres in the design. 

The California vase form dispenses with the central stem or 
trunk at a certain short distance above the ground, but this is 
not done for the purpose of securing a hollow or open-center 
tree, which is a leading characteristic of the old European vase- 
form. The few branches which are taken out from the short 
stem are pruned when the tree is young to induce successive 
branches with short interspaces. At each cutting the aim is to 
get two branches from one, and as nearly as possible of equal 
vigor, so the California tree does not, except, of course, in occa- 
sional instances, show the outline of a leader from the bottom to 
the top, but there is a succession of branchings, turned this way 
or that by the skilful pruner, occupying available air space, dis- 
tributing the weight so it comes more nearly over the center of 
gravity and at the same time knitting the fibers of the branch so 



ii8 Hoiv to Secure Good Form. 

that the weight of the fruit is well sustained. This idea, how- 
ever, is not allowed to go so far as to wholly close the interior 
of the tree, but to retain such degree of open interior as is found 
desirable. When the tree is laden with fruit, the weight natu- 
rally expands the top quite enough to admit the sunlight without 
exposing either the fruit or the branches to danger of burn- 
ing. Thus it appears that instead of the true vase or wine-glass, 
with hollow interior and thin walls, we have the general exterior 
outline of this model, but give a good part of the central area of 
the figure to bearing shoots, and thus secure a large bearing 
surface with well-strengthened supports. 

It has been fovmd that this many-branching form, developed 
upon a few^ main branches well placed upon the trunk, gives a 
stronger tree than can be had by growing a considerable num- 
ber of leaders, all starting from near the point Avhere the tree was 
headed at planting. Such leaders crowd each other at the point 
of emergence from the stem, and when laden with fruit, sway 
outward and break out at this point. A vastly stronger tree is 
secured by starting but four or live branches from the low trunk 
and letting them emerge from different sides of the stem, and at 
different levels. Thus each main attachment to the stem has 
abundant room, and the wood enlarges synmietrically and sol- 
idly. The expansion of the top is attained by the branching 
which follows the cutting back of succeeding years. Starting 
branches from nearly the same level on the stem has been the 
occasion of great losses of overladen trees, and quite a consid- 
erable recourse to strengthening up weak trees by runnmg bolts 
through from side to side at the points where experience shows 
breakage is likely to occur. In this respect it is now clearly 
seen that the practise which was widely adopted a few years ago 
of beginning with a very short stem and using the three or four 
adjacent buds nearest the point to which the tree was cut back 
at planting is defective. It is much better not to cut back so 
far at planting, but to leave a longer trunk, keep a greater distance 
between the main branches and still have the lowest brancli as 
near the ground as before, thus securing a tree which is prac- 
tically as low as that secured by the old method of starting. This 
point will be enforced by illustrations. 

HOW TO SF.CURE THE DESIRABl-E FORM. 

For the benefit of the inexperienced reader, it will be well 
to illustrate the steps by which the form of tree found so gener- 
ally desirable is to be attained. 

Cutting Back at Planting. — This has been shown on page 112 
to be essential to strong growth of the transplanted tree. It is 
also the prime act in securing a tree with a low^ head and 



First Vcai' Pruning. 



119 



strong branches. Formerly trees were cut back farther than 
desirable and the branches allowed to crowd each other, as has 
just been stated. It is better to retain twenty-four inches of 
stem than twelve inches — providing care is taken during the first 
summer to prevent, b}' pinching, the growth of too many 
branches near together. i\llow those to grow which are more 
distant from each other on the stem and pinch the intervening 
shoots. In this way one can have the lowest branch at six 
inches from the ground in the hot valleys if desired, or twelve 
inches in the coast valleys, and the highest branch at eighteen or 




Yearling apple marked to cut back for greater 
or less space between main branches; also first 
year's growth from each beginning marked for 
first winter pruning. 



twenty-four inches. This gives about twice the distance be- 
tween the main branches which was formerly allowed, and it is 
of vast advantage to the strength of the tree. The illustrations 
of this fact are from trees planted by the writer in 1887 to test 
this matter. At this date they are large trees and show the 
forms of heads resulting from different spacing of branches on 
the young trees during the first summer's growth. 

First, then, cut back the tree just after planting, as shown 
in the engraving, deciding first at what height you wish your 
trees to form heads, and cut them all back as uniformly as pos- 



Strength in the Head. 



sible and still secure a good bud just below the point of cutting. 
To preserve these buds the trees should be handled carefully 
while removing from the nursery and during planting. 

If the tree has already grown laterals where the head is 
desired, three or four of these properly placed on the stem may be 
selected to form the main branches, shortened in to the sound 
bud nearest the stem, and other laterals, not desired to form the 
liead, removed. This treatment is shown in the engraving of a 
young peach tree well branched in the nursery. If all the lat- 
erals on the young tree have started out above where the head 
is desired, as is sometimes the case, it may be necessary to remove 
the whole top, and usually others will start below afterwards. 




I^Twelve-year-old apple trees in the writer's garden at Berkeley, showing forms of head 
resulting from cutting back for greater and less spacing of main branches at planting 
in 1887. 

If there are no buds visible on the stem at the place where the 
head is desired, the choice must be made between heading the 
tree higher up, where the buds are, or cutting back without re- 
gard to buds, trusting to the development of latent buds at the 
right place, or to the grovv^th of a shoot from below which can 
be cut back to form a head the following year. It is for this 
reason, among others, that planters prefer a yearling tree which 
has not branched, but has good buds all along the stem; but 
peaches and apricots usually branch in the nursery. 

After cutting back at planting, the shoots desired to form 
the head are allowed to make their full growth without inter- 
ference. All shoots not desired for branches are pinched ofif 



Results of Experiment. 



121 






Apricot and cherry trees twelve years old, showing results of cutting back to longer 
and shorter stem at planting, in 1887, as an experiment in head terms. 



122 Pruning the Peach. 

after growing out two or three inches, leaving a bunch of leaves 
to shade the trunk and contribute to its stouter growth. Con- 
stant watchfulness is necessary to pinch ofT undesirable branches 
all the first summer. 

First Pruning. — In the winter following planting, the pre- 
vious season's growth is cut back to about ten or twelve inches 
from their junction with the stem. Some prefer to cut shorter, 
but this is apt to huddle the branches too close together when 
they get old and stout. Growers, however, do not agree on the 
exact length which these future main branches should be left 
at the first pruning. 

If, during the first summer's growth, all shoots except the 
number desired to form the head have been pinched back, the 





Yearling peach. Cut back at planting. 



First summer's gro^Vth in the orchard. 



first winter pruning consists only in cutting back the main 
branches. If laterals have grown on the parts of these branches 
which are to be left on the tree, they should be cut back to a bud 
or two. This is better than removing them entirely, for the 
next summer they will be pinched after throwing out a few leaves 
to shade and thicken the branches, just as the short growths 
left the previous summer serve the main stem. 



Priinino- the Peach. 



I 23 



Second Prniniig. — During the second summer it is usual to 
allow two branches to grow from each of the main branches left 
at the previous winter pruning, and to pinch ofT all others, as 
described. These branches are allowed to run out their full 
growth, except where excessive growth is made, and then it is 
repressed by summer pruning. This is done with the apricot 




First winter pruning. 



Second summer's growth in orchard. 



in the warmer parts of the State, as will be considered at length 
in the chapter on that fruit. Usually, however, the main 
branches are untouched during the second summer's growth. 
During the following winter the main branches are cut back 
from one-half to two-thirds of the growth they have made, and 
if too many strong laterals have grown below this pomt. some 
are shortened, others are removed entirely where they are apt 



124 



Priming the Peach. 



to cross or crowd each other. It is not desirable, however, that 
all small growth should be cleanly removed. Some of these 
small shoots will bear a little fruit and the leaf action is in any 
case desirable as a contributor to the strength of the larger 
branches to which they are attached. Besides, they serve to 
shade the bark from sunburn. 




Second winter pruning in orchard. 

Third Pruning. — When the tree reaches its third winter 
pruning, its form is well outlined, and early-bearing trees like 
the peach, apricot, almond, Japanese plums, etc., will give the 
grower a respectable crop the next season. To bear this crop 
greater care should be taken at the third winter pruning to 
leave the small laterals low down on the main branches, for on 



Weakness hi the Head. 



125 



them, clustered close in the head of the tree, most of the first 
crop will be found. Though some trees, as stated, do bear 
earlier than the third summer, the fruit is not usually consid- 
ered of conmiercial account until the third summer. An en- 









<">, *^ 







■((' 




' ^^^^ ^ ,~^i . '^ _ ^ 

Young- peach and apple trees, showing branches well spaced on the stems. 

graving is given of a peach tree just after its second winter prun- 
ing. It is a very good representative of the vase-form of a 
tree as grown in California. It has four main branches, each 
issuing from a different point on the stem, each permitted to 




Weak tree fjom ill-spaced branches. 



carry two main branches, which are not arranged around the 
circumference, but some of them tending toward the center. At 
the (hird pruning more shoots have been left than are required 
by the rule, for, starting with four main branches, there are usu- 
ally sixteen left at the third pruning. 



126 Treatment of Mature Trees. 

PRUNING BEARING TREES. 

Three winter primings of deciduous trees usually establish 
their permanent form, and subsequent pruning is chiefly di- 
rected toward the retention of that form; for strength of branch 
and stem; for renewal of bearing wood; for regulation of amount 
of bearing wood; for relative light and shade, and for conve- 
nience in cultivation and other orchard work. Naturally, these 
ends are sought according to the needs and habits of different 
fruits, and the methods of attaining them will be discussed in 
the chapters treating of these fruits. There are, however, cer- 
tain general considerations which are proper in this connection: 

Pruning during the dormancy of the tree induces greater 
growth of wood during the following summer; pruning during 
the active period reduces wood growth and promotes fruit-bear- 
ing. The greater the amount of wood removed during the dor- 
mant period will make the summer growth of wood proportion- 
ately stronger. Whether the total weight of wood growth would 
be greater may be questioned, but the effective wood growth 
is certainly greater. Whether the feci of new wood grown on 
a peach tree cut back to stumps in the winter would be greater 
in weight than all the inches of growth which would be scattered 
all over the surface of the tree if not cut back, may be doubted, 
but the new growth secured by cutting back will be of immense 
vigor and the following year will bear large fruit, while the new 
growth on the tree not cut back will be thin and short and the 
fruit indifferent. The weaker the tree or the branch or twig of 
the tree, the greater the part of it to be removed when dormant 
to get the stronger new growth. 

Pruning during the active period of the tree, or allowing it 
to go uncut during the dormant period, have the same effect, 
viz., the promotion of fruiting. Some trees, like apricots and 
peaches, which bear upon new laterals, will bear fruit even though 
heavily winter-cvit, if these small laterals are retained on the 
lower parts of the main branches. Some other trees, like the 
prune, which bears on spurs, will delay the formation of spurs 
if heavily winter-cut. These two facts suggest two diverse pol- 
icies m pruning bearing trees: A peach tree unpruned will reduce 
its crop for lack or weakness of new laterals; a prune tree too 
severely winter-pruned will reduce its crop for lack of old spurs. 
Again, some fruits, or varieties of fruits, bear chiefly upon the 
tips, others chiefly upon the lateral spurs; shortening one reduces 
the crop largely; shortening the other may increase the mar- 
ketable crop by decreasing the aggregate number. These and 
other similar facts suggest that pruning bearing trees, to be 
intelligently pursued, must be accompanied with the fullest pes- 



Thinning Bearing Trees. 127 

sible knowledge of the bearing habit of the fruit or variety 
thereof. 

Cutting back or "shortening in" should be done in a way 
which will reduce the burst of new shoots near the cut. This is 
measurably secured by always cutting the branch at a strong 
lateral, because the sap flow into this lateral prevents undue pres- 
sure and forcing of latent buds in the vicinity of the cut. For 
this reason the cutting back of all branches to a certain definite 
height is wrong. Trees shorn across at a certain line become 
thick as a brush with top shoots which require extensive thin- 
ning, or the bearing wood will soon be all at that level through 
failure of the densely-shaded bearing wood below. Cut to tlie 
nearest lateral below the line you wish to approximate, and 
shorten that lateral if desirable, and the result will be fewer and 
stronger shoots than from a stub-cut. 

In the treatment of bearing trees the main efifort should 
generally be toward thinning or reducing the number of bear- 
ing shoots. This is related to the important work of thinning 
the fruit to reduce the burden of the tree, and will be mentioned 
again in that connection. The work has, however, a bearing be- 
yond the size of individual fruit specimens. It involves the whole 
future of the tree as a profitable affair. An unthinned tree be- 
comes a thicket of small, weak and dying laterals and spurs. 
An attempt to cure this afterwards by sawing out many large 
branches is only partially successful, though perhaps the best 
thing that can be done after such condition has been allowed to 
exist. The only way to keep the interior of the tree full enough 
•of strong, bearing wood is to resolutely and regularly thin out 
surplus shoots as the tree advances in age and size. This work 
is as important with trees which are not regularly cut back, as 
with those which are thus treated. It is oiie of the most vital as 
well as the most generally neglected item in orchard practise. 

In thinning out lateral bearing shoots seldom leave more 
than one at any point; select the strongest; remove the rest close 
to the branch. When a new shoot springs out at the base of an 
older one remove the older one; when a new shoot breaks out 
on the side of an older one cut the older one back to that point. 
In thinning always reject the older, weaker laterals or spurs. 
This does not apply to the outbreak of strong suckers or water 
sprouts below the main branches; they should usually be cleanly 
■cut away unless a new main branch is desirable. 

Pruning of bearing trees should always have regard to the 
removal of branches which have become decrepit through sun- 
burn, blight or disease of any kind, frost injury, or any form of 
die-back from whatever cause. Such wood is not only of les- 
sened value, but there is also danger of extension of the trouble. 



1 28 Times for Pruning. 

Removing such wood and training new wood to take its place 
should always be in mind. 

Where cutting of large branches is demanded for any rea- 
son it should be remembered that the wounds are most quickly 
healed and least injury to the tree is to be apprehended if the 
cutting is done near the beginning of the growing season. 

TIMES FOR PRUNING. 

Some changes of view have lately prevailed as to the 
times, within the dormant period, during which winter-pruning 
can be done 10 the best advantage. Formerly it was thought to 
be a vital matter that no cutting should be done until the leaves 
had fallen, and this is still the prevailing practise, and may pro\e 
to be on all accounts the best. Recently, however, pruning 
m autumn has been quite widely practised. 

Fall Pruning. — There is a time near the end of the active 
season in California when the foliage changes its aspect. There 
is no marked change in color, perhaps, but there is a certain 
limpness and drooping which betokens decided decline in activ- 
ity. It comes first to the early fruits, the cherries and apricots, 
for instance, and upon old trees earlier than young ones. The 
buds are well formed; the season's growth apparently complete. 
There are no frosts to hasten the fail of the leaf and it remains 
in place. Does it render any important servace? On the con- 
clusion that it does not, many growers begin the winter pruning 
while the days are longer and ground dry and firm rather 
than delay pruning until the short, dark days and rain-soaked 
soil of December and January render pruning expensive and 
disagreeable. Those trees are first pruned which first assume the 
appearance described, and the work proceeds with other varie- 
ties afterwards until the winter pruning is finished by December 
I — about the time when it commonly began under the old prac- 
tise. Not only is more thus accomplished in the same number 
of days' work, but the orchard is earlier in shape for the winter 
spraying and cultivation, and the grower is ahead of his work 
and not behind it all the season if the season is unusually rainy. 
Several years' practise of this method discloses no bad results 
except in the one item of increasing danger from frost. Vines 
and trees pruned early in the dormant period have a tendency 
to start growth earlier than those pruned late in the dormant 
period. In places, then, where early bloom and fruit-setting are 
particularly threatened by frost, this practise may be undesirable. 
The method is rather new and not widely tried and awaits fuller 
demonstration of its standing. 

Spring Pruning. — Resting largely upon this matter of re- 
tarding growth, the practise of pruning very late in the dormant 



Summer Pruning. 129 

period, or, in fact, at the beginning of the growing season, is 
also gaining wider adoption where frost injury is especially 
feared. It is not actual freezing, but a drop of two or three 
degrees below the freezing point which is feared, and during 
recent years such a temperature has wrought havoc with some 
fruits, in early valley regions particularly. Later pruning, even 
after the bloom and foliage have appeared, has worked no mjury 
to the trees, but it is less conveniently done than when the trees 
are free of foliage. 

Summer Pruning. — Summer pruning, to induce bearing, is, 
as has been previously intimated, but little employed in this 
State, for the constant tendency of our trees is to bear early and 
to overbear. Enough has, however, been done in individual 
cases to show that fruit-bearing is promoted by pruning after 
the chief growth of the season has been attained. If the prun- 
ing results in forcing out laterals late in the season it has been 
done too early. What is desirable is the strengthening or devel- 
opment of fruit buds, and this will be accomplished after the 
energy has been too far dissipated to make new wood growtli. 

Summer pruning to check the too exuberant wood growth 
of some kinds of trees is employed to some extent, chiefly in the 
warmer parts of the State, where the vegetative process in some 
trees seems fairly to run riot, and unless checked is apt to ruin 
the tree by breaking to pieces when the wind and weight of fruit 
test its strength. The methods of summer pruning employed 
in dififerent parts of the State for different fruits will be con- 
sidered in connection with the special chapters on these fruits. 

Summer pruning to preserve form is another matter, and 
relates in the main to pinching in, to check undesirable exten- 
sion and to direct the sap toward shoots in which growth is de- 
sired. This practise is approved by most of our orchardists, and 
is employed by them to a greater or less extent. More people 
believe in than practise it, however, because the summer months, 
with their long succession of fruits to be gathered and shipped 
or dried, and the additional consideration that there is always a 
scarcity of labor at this time, give the orchardist sO' much work 
to do that he is more apt to confine his "pinching" to a little that 
he may do now and then when he has a few moments' leisure than 
to do the work thoroughly and systematically. The result is that 
the regular winter pruning is the main operation for tree shaping 
in this State. 

There is such a great difference in opinion about summer 
pruning that it will be very difficult to make any assertions about 
it which will not be disputed. Much of this difference comes, 
of course, from different conditions prevailing in different trees 
and in different parts of the State, and some of these will be met, 



130 Restoration by Pruning. 

as already promised, in following chapters. Leaving these 
wholly out of consideration at this time, it is safe to advise those 
who wish to secure symmetry or any particular form in any kind 
of a tree, that they can resort to svmimer pinching with advan- 
tage, and can sometimes to advantage remove wood too large for 
the thumb and finger to sever. 

Constant watchfulness should be maintained for adventi- 
tious siioots starting out on stem or limb at points where 
branches are not desired. Wherever they start out strongly, 
they should be pinched, or entirely removed, according to the 
best judgment to be formed in each case. Suckers, which, 
properly, according to Downing, are "shoots sent up from the 
root or from parts of the stem below the surface of the soil," 
should be removed whenever discovered. 

RENEWING OLD TREES. 

Improving and renewing trees by cutting back and graft- 
ing has already been considered under the head of propagation. 
It is often desirable to renew trees of a satisfactory variety, and 
this is done simply by cutting back when the tree is dormant. 
Cutting back w-as formerly done early in the winter, before the 
rise of the sap begins, but more recently it has been seen that 
the exposure of large cut surfaces for weeks or montlis before 
growth begins, results in drying and shrinkage of the bark and 
checking of the wood, both of which are avoided by amputa- 
tion later in the dormant period or during the early part of the 
growing season. In cutting back, of course, those stumps 
should be left to support new branches wdiich will secure the 
best balance and symmetry in the new head. When the new 
growth starts, there generally appear many more shoots than 
are desirable, and selection of the best-placed and most vigorous 
should be chosen, the others either being rubbed ofr in the bud 
or pinched back \vhen a few leaves are put out. In cutting back 
trees, the exposed trunk and branch stumps should be wrapped 
in old sacking, or carefully wdiitewashed as protection from sun- 
burn. 

In removing large limbs it is desirable that the cut should 
be made in the right place so as to secure quick covering of the 
scar with new growth. Cutting so as to leave a long stub results 
in an unsightly piece of dead wood on the tree, and this, in de- 
caying, carries the decay deep into the center of the trunk or 
branch. Cuttmg too close prevents covering with the new 
bark, and also results in a hole in the branch. Cutting just to 
the right mark, which is the outer edge of the little collar or 
sw^elling which will be found at the base of all branches, enables 
the wound to grow over quickly, and if the wound is properly 



Tools for Pruning. 131 

treated when cut, there will be no decay, and the wound will 
soon be wholly obliterated. 

In amputating large branches, an undercut with the saw 
should be made tirst so that the bai^k shall not be torn as the 
branch falls. Another good way is to saw off first at a distance 
from the final cut and then saw off smoothly at the right place 
when the w^eight is removed. 

Trees often become "hide-bound," as it is called. Espe- 
cially in this dry climate the bark gets dry and tough, therefore 
can not expand in proportion to the growth of the tree, or supply 
the amount of sap necessary for the demand. Slitting such trees 
here and there up and down the trunk and main limbs with a 
sharp knife seems to have good effect, for often in three months 
the cut opens half an inch, and a fine, clear bark, with an increase 
of growth, results. On old trees, too, there is often a growth of 
moss and lichens which should be removed. This can be done 
b\' scraping off the rough, loose bark and spraying with an alka- 
line wash, such as will be described in the chapter on injurious 
insects. This will remove the objectionable growth, give the 
trees a clean, bright bark, and, probably, contribute to their vigor 
as well as to their appearance. 

PRUNING TOOLS. 

There is some difference of opinion as to the comparative 
value of the pruning knife and the pruning shears. The knife, 
if sharp, and well used, makes a smooth cut, with no bruising of 
the bark, and such a wound heals over perfectly. The shears, 
if of good pattern and sharp, also make a very good cut, but 
there is always some little injury to the bark on the side oppo- 
site to the entry of the blade. On small cuts, say three-quarters 
of an inch or less, if the blade is kept very sharp, the resistance 
does not make sufficient injury to the bark to seriously consider, 
and the speed with which the shears can be used renders them 
the main reliance for all the smaller pruning. Nearly all styles 
of hand shears are used in this State. 

There are, also, two-hand shears, which are very powerful, 
and enable one to work very quickly. When kept well sharp- 
ened they are very effective tools. There are a number of styles 
in use, both home-made and imported. 

Still another arrangement of shears is mounted on a pole, 
the cutting blade being operated by a cord, and having a spring 
to throw the blade back. The pole is jointed, so that one or 
more lengths can be used. With this device one can stand on 
the ground and shorten in the top shoots of a tree very handily. 

For larger cuts than can be made with the pruning knife or 
one-hand shears, there are pruning saws of different styles, of 



132 



California Pruning Satvs. 



which the two shown in the engravings are of Cahfornia design 
and construction, being made l)y the Pacific Saw Company, of 
San Francisco. The frame is made of the best spring steel, con- 
structed somewhat on the principle of a butcher's saw, with the 
exception of the saw blade being much narrower; and instead of 
being stationary, it revolves so that the pruner is enabled to 




California Piunitig Saw — Steel Back 

adjust the blade to cut at any angle, as is often necessary to do 
when cutting where limbs grow close together, and where it 
would be impossible to use an ordinary saw of a wider blade. 
The blade is only one-fourth to one-half inch wide, and there- 
fore not liable to get pinched in the cut. Strength is imparted 
by a tension screw under the handle, which tightens the blade. 
The blade is easily detached by slackening the tension screw, 
and lifting the blade out of the slot in the clutches at each end. 
The blade can be thus reversed and made to cut with a push or 
a pull, as may be desired. 




California Curved Pattern Pruning Saw. 



The foregoing saw is commonly called the Hatch pattern. 
Another similar to it, except that it is heavier and has a handle 
like that of a butcher's saw, is known as the Jessup pattern. 
Another popular saw is the curved pruning saw, with twelve and 
fourteen-inch blades. As the engraving shows, the saw cuts 
with a pull. 

CUTTING TO A BUD. 

Whatever may be used to make the cut, it is important to 
sever the twig or shoot at that distance from a wood bud which 
gives that bud the best chance to grow well, and at the same 
time facilitates the healing and complete obliteration of the scar. 
Cutting too far from the bud leaves a stub which dies back, and 
is likely to carry decay into the pith and thence down into the 
limb. Cutting too close to the bud or carrying the slope down 



Gathering Pruning Brush. 



133 



too far behind it, does not give it enough live wood to carry it, 
and it makes a weak growth. The accompanying engraving 
shows the right way and the wrong way to cut a bud. In the 
tirst figure, the cut is too far from the bud; in the second, too 
close to it, and in the third the cut is made at the right point. 




Cutting to a Bud (Barry 



Cutting to inside buds with trees of spreading habit, and to 
outside buds with upright growers, or to a side bud when lat- 
eral extension is desired, should always be remembered as a 
means of throwing new growth in the direction demanded by 
symmetry and equal occupation of the space allotted to the tree. 
This is one respect in which study of the habit of the tree sug- 
gests proper practise. 

COVERING WOUNDS. 

Whenever wood is cut with so great diameter that it will not 
grow over in one season, the wound should be coated with some- 
thing to keep the wood from checkmg and decaying. It has 
been amply demonstrated by California experience that smooth- 
paring of the cut by shears or saw is a waste of time. Large 
wounds should, however, be covered to prevent checking of the 
wood and drying back of bark edges. Nothing is better or 
cheaper for this covering than lead and oil paint, a little thicker 
than for ordinary use, and applied sparingly, so that it will not 
run down the bark. 

GATHERING UP PRUNINGS. 

Gathering up prunings for burning is tedious and expensive, 
and several efforts have been made to substitute machinery for 
hand labor. A device which has been shown to work well is 
Anderson's Brush Rake, invented by W. C. Anderson, of San 
Jose. It readily gathers all kinds of tree and vine brush, com- 
presses it considerably and is easily discharged of its load by a 
slight lift while still going forward. It is said to save about one- 
half the cost of hand raking. 



134 " Thinning Fruit Essential. 




Anderson's Brush Rake. 



Baling Pnuiiiigs. — There is a fuel value in prunings which 
has become more clear since pumping for irrigation is so widely 
practised, but loose prunings are too expensive in handling. T. 
G. Rogers, of Winters, has contrived a "brush baler." It is a 
large strong saw horse inverted, to which is bolted a long, heavy 
lever. Attached to a cross piece on the lever are four heavy 
tines bent in a semicircle. The saw horse is filled with brush, 
the lever is then pulled down and fastened by a ratchet brake, 
the brush is forced into a small, compact bundle, and when bound 
with wire makes a bundle easily handled by the fireman. 

THINNING FRUIT. 

Intimately connected with the pruning of bearing trees, is 
the thinning of the fruit or proper spacing of the individual 
fruits so that each shall have space and sap to allow its attain- 
ment of satisfactory marketable size. It has been fully demon- 
strated that no demand is profitable which will be content with 
the undersized fruit from an overladen tree. The superior 
price for good-sized fruit for all uses, not excluding drymg, is 
unquestionable; the total weight secured may be variable as 
between thinned and unthinned trees, but it can be accepted as 
an indisputable fact that any increase of weight there may be 
upon the unthinned tree will not be nearly an equivalent for the 
loss in value. It is the conclusion of our largest and most suc- 
cessful growers that, large as is the expenditure required for 
careful and systematic thinning of fruit, it is the most directly 
profitable outlay which they have to make for orchard mainte- 
nance. 

Objects in Viczv in Fruit Thinning. — But thinning fruit has 
objects beyond the value of the visible crop which it makes prof- 
itable. No overburdened tree can discharge the twofold sum- 
mer duty of every cultivated fruit-bearing tree which is to per- 
fect this season's fruit and lay a good strong foundation for next 
year's bearing. If the tree, after fruit gathering, has not the 



U7u'?i to Thin Fruit. 135 

.strong, vigorous foliage to complete the formation of fruit buds 
for the following year, there will either be a lack of bloom or 
a show of bloom unfit to set, and the tree will work for itself 
next year, and not for you, because this year you would not work 
for it. In this particular, thinning fruit coincides in purpose with 
pruning to limit the amount of bearing wood, which has already 
been considered. 

Other objects there also are which are related directly to the 
profit of orcharding and should command respect from the most 
careless. The following is an emphatic statement of the case:* 

There are at least six ways in which growers are repaid for thinning 
peaches, nectarines or apricots designed for drying: — 

First: You can thin off half the fruit when small quicker than you 
could pick it when large, and when mature the time required to fill a basket 
depends mainly upon the number of peaches it holds. 

Second: It takes just as long to cut and spread on a drying tray a 
small peach as a large one. It takes longer to cut eight peaches that will 
weigh a pound than to cut three and pick off five when they are little. 

Third: If peaches run six to the pound the weight of pits will not 
vary much from that of the cured fruit. If they run three to the pound, they 
will weigh not much over half. A ton of large peaches is as likely to yield 
400 pounds of dried as a ton of small fruit of the same variety to yield 
300 pounds. It means a difference of about $8.00 per ton in the value of 
the fresh fruit to the dryer. It will cost over $1.00 per ton to thin a heavily 
laden peach orchard in a way to make that difference. 

Fourth: Granted that you leave fruit to reach the same weight at 
maturity, still you leave it along the body and in places on the limbs where 
the weight has no breaking leverage and take it off the ends where it may 
get sun-burned and is almost sure to break the tree. 

Fifth: Vitality drawn from the plant and certain elements of fertility 
from the soil, are in proportion to the number of seeds matured. The 
pulp cuts little figure except in aerial substances and water. 

Sixth: Suppose that fruit dried from peaches that weigh three to the 
pound only brings one cent a pound more than that from peaches half that 
size. Two cents would more accurately measure the difference in value. 
Still, the smaller figure is enough to meet the whole cost of pirking and 
hauling or of cutting and drying in any well-managed establishment. 

When to Thin Fruit. — Thinning of fruit should begin with 
the winter pruning of bearing trees, as has been already urged 
in connection with regulating the amount of bearing wood allot- 
ted to each tree. After this is carefully done, there is the thin- 
ning of bloom, which is urged on the ground of least possible 
loss of energy by the tree in the partial development of fruit 
to be subsequently removed. Hand-thinning of individual 
blooms is impracticable on a commercial .^cale, but removal of 
spurs or twigs, or shortening of them with shears, is feasible 
enough. The objection must lie in the fact that profusion of 
bloom does not necessarily indicate an excessive set of fruit, and 
any severe reduction of bloom is, therefore, venturesome unless 



♦Condensed from F. S. Chapin. 



136 How to Thin Fruit. 

one is fully assured by local experience of the habit of the variety 
under treatment. Reduction of the amount of fruit itself is, 
therefore, the only safe proceeding, and this should not, as a 
rule, be undertaken until the first drop, through lack of pollina- 
tion, has taken place. Even at greater theoretical loss of en- 
ergy to the tree, it is better to err on the side of thinning a little 
too late than too early in order to secure the fullest assurance 
possible of the permanent burden which the tree assumes. 
Where spring frosts are likely to occur they afford additional 
reason for delay. If surety of the local conditions comes before 
the pits harden in the young fruit it is fortunate for the tree, but 
even after that it is till a greater saving to the tree and assurance 
of profit to the grower to reduce the fruit to a proper amount 
than to permit overbearing. 

The Practise o-f Thinning. — If the tree has not been sufficiently 
relieved of an excess of bearing wood during the winter pruning 
and has made a very heavy set of fruit, thinning with the shears 
by cutting out whole spurs or short bearing shoots, or even 
shortening in longer limbs, cutting always to a lateral when 
possible, is of no appreciable injury to the tree. After all the 
shear-work possible is done, the spacing of the fruits on the 
twigs and branches must be provided for. This was done in 
early days by beating the tree with a pole, and some still main- 
tain that they can use the pole to advantage. The almost uni- 
versal practise, however, is to use the hand in plucking or push- 
ing off the small fruit. This is done very quickly by experienced 
workmen. If the trees are low, as they should be, most of the 
work can be done from the ground. It is best to work in verti- 
cal spaces and take all that can be reached from top to bottom 
without changing position; then move a step or two and take 
another vertical strip, and so on. 

The distance wdiich should be left between specimens de- 
pends upon conditions. It is as unsatisfactory to thin by rule 
of inches as it is to prune by such a rule. The space to each 
fruit depends upon the kind, the age, vigor and strength of the 
tree, the size and thrift of the lateral or spur which carries the 
fruit, the moisture supply, the richness of the soil, etc. It also 
depends upon what use is to be made of the fruit, because it is 
possible to have some fruit which is too large for certain de- 
mands, though this objection does not often arise. The strength 
of the shoot is perhaps the most easily appreciable factor. 
With peaches, for instance, a shortened lateral one-eighth of an 
inch in diameter should only carry one peach, while one one- 
quarter of an inch in diameter might mature four good large 
fruits. It would evidently be wrong to work for an arbitrary 
inch-distance on all sorts of shoots, and it will be seen to be just 



Points on Proper Thinning. 137 

as irrational if it be applied without regard to the other condi- 
tions of the tree. If, however, a rule must be had, let it be this, 
that the distance between the fruit shall be two and one-half 
times the diameter desired in the fruit. This would fix an arbi- 
trary distance, then, of four to six inches for apricots and six to 
eight inches for peaches — with other fruits according to their 
respective sizes, and the late varieties with greater distance 
than early. 

Any such standard, however, considers only the size of the 
fruit, not the strength of the tree, and therefore stops short of 
one of the important ends of thinning, to conserve the strength 
of the tree for next season's fruiting. Fruits might be thus 
spaced and still the tree be overladen, because it may be carrying 
too many bearing shoots. Calculate the burden of the tree in 
this way, for instance : Peaches which weigh three to the pound 
are of fair marketable size; sixty such peaches will fill an ordi- 
nary peach-box of twenty pounds; ten to twelve such boxes is 
fruit enough for a good bearing tree six to ten years of age. 
Now count the little peaches you have left on one main branch 
and its laterals, which ought to be about one-tenth of the tree, 
and thin down to about sixty. By doing a few trees in this way 
and thinking of the relation of the bearing wood to the fruit, 
one will soon get a conception of the proper degree of thinning, 
and proceed to realize it as rapidly as the fingers can fly along 
the branch. 

It is seldom desirable to divide doubles in peaches; pull both 
ofi or leave both on, as they may be needed or not to make the 
load of the tree. Clusters of apples or pears should often be re- 
duced to singles, except where size is apt to be too great. 

All kinds of fruits are clearly subject to increase of size by 
thinning, but it is with only the larger fruits that the practise 
prevails at present. The dividing line seems to lie upon the 
prune. With this fruit thinning is only done by pruning the tree 
for the reduction of the number of bearing branches, while with 
some shipping plums hand thinning is practised. Growers are 
still striving for a prune naturally of larger size rather than to 
have recourse to thinning. 

The practise of thinning partially at first, trusting to further 
removal of fruit later if too much of it survives the natural drop 
and various accidents, is followed by some growers, but the rule 
is to finish at one operation. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
CULTIVATION. 

It was demonstrated very early in California experience in 
fruit growing, that "clean culture" is the proper treatment for 
trees and vines. Though the frequent stirring of the soil and 
the complete eradication of grass and weeds have been advocated 
by certain horticulturists for generations as the true practise, it 
has nowhere secured such wide adherence as in California. It 
may even be held to be an essential to successful growth of tree 
and vine in most soils and situations in California, and the ad- 
vantages of clean culture, which have been urged elsewhere, are 
intensified under our conditions. 

Chief of these advantages is the maintenance of the soil m 
a condition favoring root growth, and the main feature of this 
condition is the retention of the moisture, though regulation of 
summer temperature in the soil is also involved. Where mois- 
ture-retention is not the chief concern, because of ample irriga- 
tion facilities, and the moderation of soil temperature is of 
greater moment, a summer-growing cover crop may be of bene- 
fit to the trees. In irrigated districts of excessive heat and dry 
air this policy may prevail, but it will be only the exception to 
the rule of clean culture. 

Retaining Moisture by Cultivation. — It is a familiar fact that 
water will rise in a tube of exceeding small diameter very much 
higher than the surface of the body of water in which the tube is 
held upright. The water rises by capillary attraction. A com- 
pact soil has extending through it minute spaces, formed by the 
partial contact of its particles, which facilitate the rise of water 
from moist layers below, in accordance with the same principle 
which causes the water to rise in the capillary tube. This move- 
ment is constantly going on in a firm soil, and as fast as the top 
layer is robbed of its moisture by evaporation, the water rises 
from below and it too is evaporated. During a long, dry sum- 
mer, the water rises and is evaporated from a depth of several 
feet in some soils, and the earth, beneath the baking sun heat, 
becomes "dry as a brick." 

When a soil is broken up by cultivation, its capillarity is 
temporarily destroyed through the disturbed layer, because the 

( 138 ) 



How Cultivation Acts. 139 

particles are so separated that the mutual connection of the 
minute interspaces no longer exists. But if it be roughly 
broken up, so that the disturbed layer takes the form of coarse 
clods, the air has free access to the upper surface of the firm 
soil beneath them, in which the capillary condition still exists, 
and evaporation proceeds in the same way, though in a some- 
what less degree, than if there had been no cultivation. It 
becomes evident, then, that the pulverization of the disturbed 
layer must be so complete that the particles are separated and 
capillarity destroyed, and, farther, that the free access of air to 
the lower point, where capillarity exists, must be prevented. 
This is accomplished by the fine loose earth which acts as a 
mulch. When this is attained, only that moisture in the upper 
surface which comes in immediate contact with the air is evap- 
orated, and the balance is retained for the use of the plant. 
Plants growing, then, in a well-cultivated soil, have the water in 
the lower soil held for their use, and as fast as they use it the 
supply is replaced from the tirm soil below; or else, evaporation 
being stopped, their roots extend freely through the moist soil, 
seeking the nourishment they need. 

Such is a brief outline of the theory which explains the re- 
sults gained by thorough cultivation of the soil, so far, at least, 
as retention of moisture is concerned. The practical demonstra- 
tion of this retention is easy. Go into a well-cultivated orchard 
or vineyard, push aside the soil with the foot, and moisture will 
be found two or three inches from the surface, or even less in 
some soils, while on uncultivated land adjacent, digging to the 
depth of several feet will show nothing but hard earth, baked 
and arid. In such hard-baked earth, moreover, the sun heat is 
conveyed or conducted downward very rapidly during a hot day, 
so that in some cases the roots are seriously injured. When 
the surface is well tilled, it will act like a blanket, preventing a 
too rapid conveyance of heat downward, and thus also diminish- 
ing the intensity of evaporation. 

Accurate demonstration of these facts has recently been se- 
cured as the result of many moisture determinations in culti- 
vated and uncultivated soil by the University of California 
^Agricultural Experiment Station.* Very striking exhibition of 
the condition of trees with and without cultivation is found in 
the engravings wdiich are reproduced herewith. Upon the dem- 
onstration, the practise in the uncultivated orchard was radically 
changed. The exact determination of moisture present at vari- 
ous depths of the soil beneath these contrasted orchards in the 
month of julv is as follows: — 



•Bulletin 121. 



Loss in Uyicultivated Soil. 



141 



Depth in Soil. 



Cultivated. 



Percent. ^-^P- 



Uncultivated. 



P---t. To-J^er 



First foot 

Second foot 

Third foot 

Fourth foot 

Fifth foot 

Sixth foot 

Total for six feet 



6.4 
5.S 
6.4 
6.5 
6.7 
6.0 



128 
116 
128 
130 

134 
120 



4-3 
4.4 

3-9 
5-i 
3-4 
4-5 



86 
88 
78 
102 
68 
90 



6.3 



756 



4.2 



512 



This shows a gain of nearly fifty per cent of soil moisture 
by cultivation. 

Necessity of Adequate Cultivation. — It has been very fully 
demonstrated by California experience that adequate depth of 
tilth must be attained. The depth of cultivation, or the thickness 
of the dust-mulch, as some like to call it, must be sufficient to 
prevent the access of the dry air to the firm soil below. At the 
East, where they have a moister air, a thin mulch may answer; 
but in California, with a thirsty air for such a protracted period, 
there must be deeper tilth. Two or three inches of dust spread 
over a hard-pan layer, formed in some soils by cultivation, will 
not retain moisture well in California. The cultivator should 
go twice that depth, ordinarily, and then the result will be accom- 
plished if it is done frequently enough to prevent the re-firming 
of the surface by atmospheric moisture or by the rise of moisture 
from below. The exact significance of depth in the loose, sur- 
face layer has also been demonstrated by moisture determination 
in the subsoil at difterent points by the California Experiment 
Station, as follows: — 

PERCENTAGE OF MOISTURE IN CULTIVATED LOAM SOIL. 

Depth. Niles. Santa Maria. Ventura. 

Three inches. 5.4 5.3 6.5 

Six inches. 6.3 8.3 9.3 

These may be accepted, probably, as average results: varia- 
tion may occur in soils of different characters. The capillarity 
in a heavy soil is vastly greater than in a light soil. The diffi- 
culty of securing a pulverized surface layer is also greater in the 
heavy soil. The poorer the pulverization, the deeper the layer 
must be. Naturally, then, growers' practise will vary. The rule 
will remain that there must be depth enough to secure efifective 
protection of the firm soil beneath from agencies promoting 
evaporation. 

Loss of Moisture by Weed Gro-wth. — One of the most active 



142 Storage of Moisture in the Soil. 

agencies for the exhaustion of moisture from the subsoil is the 
growth of weeds. To cultivate the soil in winter and spring, 
and then to allow a growth of weeds to "shade the soil" is a great 
error. Although under the cover of rank weeds moisture may 
appear even at the surface and convey the impression of moisture- 
saving, the fact is, as fully demonstrated by experience and 
accurate experiment, the moisture in the lower layers of the soil 
is reduced and trees are thus robbed of their supply. Weed 
growth must be resolutely suppressed during the dry season. 

Moisture Storage in the Soil. — Conservation of moisture in 
the soil is not only the surety of the current season's growth and 
fruitfulness, but is the safeguard against injury from the years of 
deficient rainfall which occur now and then in California. The 
moisture supply is equalized by this storage in the soil, and a 
surplus from the liberal rainfall of one year is held over to supply 
the lack of the next. Of course, the well-cultivated surface is 
also well calculated to catch the water. While from a hard sur- 
face much of a heavy rainfall flows off quickly to a lower level 
before it can penetrate, a loose soil retains all that falls upon 
it, except the excess, which disappears by seepage or drainage. 

It has sonjetimes been held by California orchardists that 
planting some tall-growing crop, like corn, so as to shade the 
young tree and the ground around it, is an advantage. This is a 
great mistake. Though some rich, moist soils may aiiford mois- 
ture enough to grow both the tree and the corn, it is a fact that 
in most cases the growth of the corn is made at the expense of 
the tree, and sometimes almost costs its life and thrift. It 
has been clearly shown by the researches of Professor Wollny,* 
that though shading ground by a leafy growth may make the 
surface layer of the soil moister, the lower layers are invariably 
made drier, and it is in these lower layers that the tree seeks its 
sustenance. The young tree should be shaded as has been 
described in the chapter on planting, and not by a growing 
plant. 

GROWING CROPS BETWEEN TREES AND VINES. 

The possible advantage of a cover growth of clover in re- 
gions of high heat and ample moisture has been noted at the 
opening of this chapter. The rule, however, must be: Grow 
nothing whatever between the trees if you desire the full success 
of the latter. As with all rules, this one may admit of exceptions. 

Inter-cultures in orchard or vineyard may be allowed under 
certain conditions of the soil and the purse of the grower. If 
the soil is deep and moist and rich, the cost of planting and culti- 



* Cited in Pacific Rural Press, May 3, 1879. 



Inter- Cultures in Orchard. 143 

vation, and sometimes more may be made by growing a crop 
among your young trees. Of course, if irrigation is available, 
much more can be done in this direction than if dependent upon 
natural supplies of water. 

There is much difference as to crops in amount of injury 
they may do the trees. Growing alfalfa, without irrigation, has 
been known to kill out an orchard. Grain is less dangerous, 
but still is objectionable, both because of exhaustion of soil and 
moisture, and because of danger to trees from heat deflected from 
straw and stubble. The crops least injurious, because of their 
requirements, and because the constant cultivation of them checks 
the loss of moisture by evaporation, are corn, beans, potatoes, 
beets, carrots, etc., squashes, and other members of the melon 
family, onions, and other shallow-rooting vegetables. In the 
growth of these, however, there should be a width of four feet of 
well-cultured soil on all sides of the tree, unoccupied. 

In soils exceptionally rich and deep, and where rainfall is 
abundant, inter-cultures of small fruits or vegetables may be 
carried on for a long series of years with profit both from the 
trees and the inter-culture. In similar deep, rich soils, with irri- 
gation, immense crops of small fruits and vegetables, even as 
high as twelve to twenty-four tons of tomatoes per acre, have 
been taken from between orchard rows, and one hundred and 
fifty sacks of onions per acre from between the rows in a straw- 
berry plantation. In Ventura County some fields of lima beans, 
in favorable years, have paid over $70 per acre — grown between 
young trees. In other parts of the State considerable amounts 
of peas for sale to canners are grown between the rows in 
young orchards. This crop is especially desirable when good 
sale is assured, because the plant is hardy and can make a good 
part of its growth during the rainy season and the ground be 
cleaned up and well cultivated early in the summer. As beans 
and peas are legumes, their roots enrich the soil, as will be noted 
in the chapter on fertilization. 

Hozv Exhaustion by Inier-Culture May Be Avoided. — But all 
inter-cultures are a loan made by the trees to the orchardist. 
The term may be very long and the rate of interest very small 
in some cases, but sooner or later the trees will need restitution 
to the soil of the plant food removed by inter-cropping. This 
may be accomplished by the use of fertilizers. Still the rule that 
the trees or vines should have all the ground is generally true. 
It is also true that on merely ordinary soils, trusting to rainfall, 
or on shallow soils, trusting in part to irrigation, the trees or 
vines should have the full strength of the land and all the help 
which can be given them in the shape of thorough culti- 
vation. 



Ploivmg Orchard and I incyard. 145 

METHODS OF CULTIVATION. 

In general terms the main objects of cultivation of orchard 
and vineyard are two: Winter cultivation for moisture reception, 
and summer cultivation for moisture retention. 

Wherever early winter plowing can be done without too 
great danger of soil washing, it affords the best available means 
of admitting water to the great reservoir in the lower levels of a 
deep soil. Too frequently large volumes of rain water, en- 
riched by air-washing as it falls and by fine soil-particles as it 
flows, are allowed to run off into the country drainage, with the 
double loss of fertility and moisture to the fruit grower. Deep 
penetration of winter rains should be, in all safe ways, promoted. 
Cultivation for retention has already been strongly urged and is 
quite generally recognized. 

To serve these main purposes there are two main divisions 
of practise in this State, each of which has variations of greater 
or less importance. 

First: Winter plowing followed by frequent use of cultiva- 
tor and pulverizer in summer. 

Second: Use of cultivator at intervals both winter and sum- 
mer, following, if needed, with pulverizer in the summer. 

It will not be attempted to render judicial decision as to the 
comparative merits of these two systems of cultivation. It is 
quite probable that each has claim to superiority under different 
local conditions. It will be enough at present to describe the 
main features of each division of practise, and perhaps to men- 
tion incidentally some of the claims by which each method is 
supported by its advocates. 

Plowing Orchard and Vineyard. — There is considerable vari- 
ation in the practise of plowing orchard and vineyard, in the 
kinds of plows employed, and in the times chosen for the work. 
Some plow but once, toward spring, whenever the ground is in 
suitable condition; and, if there is much growth of weeds and 
clovers, a looped chain is run from the plow to the end of the 
evener to aid in drawing under the tall growth. Sometimes, 
however, the growth gets so rank before the soil is in condition 
to plow that the weeds are mown before plowing. Where but 
one plowing is done, the soil is usually thrown away from the 
trees and afterwards is leveled back by harrowing or cultivating. 
If this practise is adopted, care should be taken that the soil is 
properly returned about the tree roots, for injury is sometimes 
done by bringing the roots too near the surface, which is soon 
afterward intensely heated by the sunshine. 

It is undoubtedly better practise to plow earlier, when the 
green stuff gets a good start, but is still not too high to turn 



146 Breaking up Hard-pan. 

under handily. In this practise the weed stems are not so 
woody, but they easily decay and act a.s a fertilizer. Where 
early plowing- is practised, it is usual to plow again when the 
second growth of weeds reaches the proper state in the spring. 
When two plowings are given, the earth is usually thrown away 
from the trees in the first plowing, and returned toward 
the trees in the second plowing. But this order is sometimes 
reversed in situations where rainfall is heavy and the soil reten- 
tive, for the dead furrow between the rows often acts as a surface 
drain to carry ofif surplus water, which is thus prevented from 
standing around the tree roots. In all modes of plowing it is 
desirable that before the summer heat comes, the surface be 
leveled as completely as possible. 

Too much stress can not be laid upon the importance of 
plowing when the soil is in good condition and not otherwise. 
To disregard this is bad enough in all soils, but it is a grievous 
mistake to work any of the clayey soils when they are out of con- 
dition. If too wet, they are puddled by the plow and dry down 
in hard clods, impenetrable b}' air, and even resist water itself for 
a long time. When clods are thus formed, it may require loiig 
effort to bring the soil back to a good friable condition. The 
cultivation of adobe is one of the problems of California agri- 
culture. The more refractory it is, the more particular care is 
needed to take it when it is in proper condition to work. To 
work it when perfectly dry is simply impossible; and if it is 
plowed when too wet and sticky, it becomes hard, lumpy, and 
altogether unmanageable. The condition which favors best re- 
sults by tillage must be learned by experience. 

Another mistake, apt to be made where the orchard or vine- 
yard is but one of the branches of a mixed farm, is to put aside 
the plowing until all the field work is done, and in some seasons 
the soil in the orchard has become so dry that it turns up in large 
clods, which are afterwards partially reduced by the harrow, 
but never put in the fine tilth which should be secured for the 
retention of moisture and otherwise to encourage the growth and 
productiveness of the trees. 

Breaking up Hard-pan. — Those who advocate the use of the 
plow, claim several advantages for it. The chief is that more 
thorough tilth can be secured. In most, but not all soils, there 
is formed by cultivation an artificial hard-pan at whatever depth 
the implement attains, if this depth be kept the same for many 
successive cultivations. This hard-pan, in some soils at least, 
becomes impervious to water and is otherwise an injury to the 
growth of the trees. It occurs in irrigated and unirrigated land 
alike, but probably is more quickly formed by irrigation. When 
continuous summer cultivation is practised, the hard-pan will be 



Hillside Cultivation. 147 

found at whatever depth the teeth uniformly reach. The remedy 
is to plow in winter just below this hard-pan layer and thus break 
it up, and then by the action of the air and rains it is reduced, 
and cultivation may proceed as before. Where the hard-pan is 
formed by the plow, the ground should be plowed shallow one 
year and deeply the next, thus alternating from year to year. 

Green Maiiitriiig. — Another advantage in the use of the 
plow is, as has already been mentioned, the turning under of the 
growth of weeds, grass, and clover as a green manure. Many 
growers attach considerable importance to this, and some, who 
have orchards in which winter growth has been killed out by 
long cultivation, are seeking for a quickly-growing crop which 
they can sow with the first rains and secure growth enough to 
turn under with the winter plowing. This consideration may 
be farther presented in the chapter on fertilization. 

Plozving Hillside to Prevent Washing. — Where the slope of 
the land is sharp, there is much danger from washing during the 
rainy season, if the hillside is not terraced or furnished with 
ditches carefully laid out on contour lines to carry the water 
down on a gentle grade. The old plan of plowing furrows one 
above another around the hill to check the flow and let the water 
down easily, is often foimd treacherous unless one is able to 
strike good grades, because of the liability to collection of water 
at certain points and the subsequent breaking away and wash- 
ing. Recently some of the foot-hill growers have adopted the 
plan of plowing furrows seven or eight feet apart straight down 
the hill in the direction of its deepest descent. The rainfall is 
thus distributed over the ground so that not much water is col- 
lected in any one place and the harm done by washing will not 
amount to much. Hillside work differs according to char- 
acter of soil and of local rainfall and conference with experienced 
men in the region will usually afford the beginner the best sug- 
gestions of method. In some localities, the plowing of a few 
furrows at intervals to assist in penetration and the growth of a 
cover crop during the winter to assist in binding the soil, will 
be found better than any attempt at the early plowing, which may 
work admirably on level lands. 

The Best Plow. — For plowing orchards and vinevards many 
kinds of plows are used, including the ordinary one and two- 
horse walking plows, single and double sulky or riding plows, 
and ■ gang plows of different kinds. In several of the leading 
fruit districts there arc plows made in the local shops which are 
patterned to meet the different soils prevailing. Which is the 
best plow is a question which can not be answered, it must be 
determined by local conditions, and the best way to get informa- 
tion is to consult the experienced cultivators of the locality. 



148 Prevent i>ig Injury to Trees. 

Steam Plowmg of Orchard. — A local phase of orchard plow- 
ing in the Feather River district of the Sacramento Valley is 
worthy of note. A large traction engine has been used to haul 
a gang of plows, covering twenty-four feet of land, the full width 
between the rows of trees, and doing the work of four eight-mule 
teams, turning over the ground in excellent shape and doing the 
work much more cheaply than it can be done by animals. 

Avoiding Injury to Trees and VUies. — The great problem i, 
to use the plow so as not to injure the trees and vines. Injury to 
the roots is one ground on which those who advocate the banish- 
ment of the plow from orchard and vineyard base their opposi- 
tion, as will appear more fully presently. It is the usual practise 
to run the plow shallower when approaching the stem of the tree 
or vine, and this is easily done when using a riding plow or a 
two-horse walking plow between the rows and finishing up near 
the trees with a single-horse walking plow, which is a common 
practise. The injury by the plow to which especial reference is 
now made, is that to the bark of the tree or to the vine stump. 

Makers of the special orchard and vineyard plows have re- 
cently made them adjustable so that the plow will work either 
side of the central line of draft, and these improved tools have 
rendered obsolete the early contrivances for accomplishing the 
result with common field plows. 

Flat Hames and a Spreader. — Among the worst things for 
use among trees are the pointed iron hames which are found on 
most harnesses. They often seriously bark the branches under 
which the horse passes, and should be dispensed with. An 
arrangement used in San Bernardino County consists in having 
broad leather tugs and hames with only one long iron loop on 
the swell of the hame. The tug is passed around the hame and 
the end is brought through the iron loop from the under side, 
so that the draft will hold the tug tight between the collar and 
the hame and the end between the iron staple and the pulling 
part of the trace. A spreader is put between the tugs ; it is made 
of a hard-wood stick sixteen to eighteen inches long; a hole is 
bored in each end large enough for a two-inch screw, a hole 
punched in each trace about twelve inches from the rear end, and 
the tugs are screwed to the ends of the spreader, and the ends 
of the tugs attached to the plow clevis. This gives no iron or 
wooden surfaces at all, either on harness or whiffletree, to strike 
the bark. 

Improved Singletrees. — Later than these came the orchard 
and vineyard singletrees, invented and patented by Californians. 
The first was that of G. G. Wickson & Co., of San Fran- 
cisco, and it is now very widely used. As shown in the en- 
graving, it is made in two parallel parts, the trace is slipped 



,-J;/ 1)11 proved Singletree . 



149 



between the upper and lower halves, and there held by a 
simple clasp, leaving fully one-half extending' beyond the ends 
of the wood, and preventing the singletree coming into con- 
tact with anything in passing, as shown in left-hand end of 
the illustration. With veiy young trees the edge of the traces 
might injure the tender bark, so a little supplementary trace 
is attached to the main trace at right angles, as shown in right- 




California Improved Orchard and Vineyard Singletree. 

hand end of illustration, and passes between the ends of the 
singletree, presenting the flat side of the trace to obstructions, 
in which shape it can not injure in the slightest degree the ten- 
<lerest bark. The engraving is made with ends unlike to show 
both styles of hitching. There are other patented devices for 
preventing injuries to trees and vines which can be seen at the 
stores of dealers in agricultural implements. 

Dispensing with Doubletrees. — Still other inventions which 
admit the use of two horses even close up to the trees, because 
they dispense entirely with whiffletrees and tugs, are known as 
the steel harness. Eastern inventions, which have secured the 
approval of some of our leading growers for use in orchard and 
vineyard. The plow is attached to the steel yoke by a chain 
running between the horses. With them it is possible to work 
quite close to the trees and vines, and is especially desirable in 
the vineyard in working close to the vines when they have grown 
out about two feet, which is a difficult job with the- old-style 
harness. 

SUMMER TREATMENT OF PLOWED ORCHARD AND VINEYARD. 

Where the orchard or vineyard is plowed twice during the 
winter, the land should remain after the first plowing as the plow 
leaves it. The moistening and aeration during the winter have a 
good effect upon the soil both chemically and mechanically. 



150 Cultivation without Plozving. 

If but one plowing is clone, when the chief rains are sup- 
posed to be over, there must be full tft'crl put forth to reduce 
the soil to good tilth, and to level the surface as much as possi- 
ble. This is done by harrowing with one of the several improved 
harrows which are now generally introduced and found very 
effective. They act in cultivating, clod crushing, and leveling, in 
a most satisfactory manner. They are too well known to need 
description. Each has its advocates and its adaptations to cer- 
tain soils. As with plows, so with harrows and cultivators, the 
best for one soil may not be the best for another, and local in- 
quiry among experienced fruit growers will be the best guide 
for the newcomer. In addition to the excellent implements 
brought from the eastern States, there are others of California 
invention and manufacture which have very marked local adap- 
tations, and almost every fruit region in California has some em- 
bodiment of local inventive genius in the form of implements of 
tillage. 

The secret of success in handling the heavier soils in spring 
working is to secure as perfect surface pulverization as possible 
without compacting the soil. Tight soils need a certain amount 
of firming after plowing, or else there is too free access of air 
and too great drying out. For these and other reasons, the 
grower has to study his soil and learn from observation the 
methods which succeed best with it. The practise which gave 
success under certain conditions might not be well adapted 
under other conditions. The use of the roller is a striking 
example of this fact. In some orchards the roller is a benefit, 
in others a decided injur3^ Its chief effect is compacting the 
surface layer, which is only desirable on very coarse open soils. 
The long-tooth harrow accomplishes a very marked compacting 
of the soil to the depth it reaches and often settles the lower layer 
too closely and causes it to run together too solidly if rain fol- 
lows. The modern cultivators, clod-crushers, disk-harrows, etc., 
are superior in effect, each in the soil to which its action is most 
desirable. 

After the work incident to working down the soil after plow- 
ing, the cultivator is relied upon to kill the weeds, break up the 
crust which may form after spring rains or after irrigation, and 
to prevent the compacting of the surface layer of the soil from 
any causes. 

CULTIVATION WITHOUT PLOWINCt. 

There are orchards in California which have not been plowed 
for years — in some cases the plow has not been used since the 
trees were planted. Instances of this kind are to be found both 
in irrigated and unirrigated land. It depends largely upon the 



Summer Cultivation. 151 

mechanical condition and disposition of the soil whether the 
practise will give satisfactory results. It can not be trusted on 
land proiie to develop hard-pan. as has already been considered, 
and yet the term "cultivation" has taken such a wide range in 
this State, and the tools have reached such efficiency, that there 
is not as much difference as formerly between the plow and the 
cultivator, except that the former turns the soil and the latter 
stirs without titrning. For some who oppose the use of the 
plow, use a chisel-tooth cultivator, cutting to a depth of eight 
inches in the spring, but at other times of the year they do not 
cut more than half as deep. This treatment would tend to dis- 
pose of hard-pan. However this may be, and what the special 
nature of their soils, there are fruit growers, both m northern 
and southern California, who have for years trusted almost 
wholly to the cultivator, cutting to a depth of three or four 
inches, and keep their orchards throughout the year almost in 
the same state of tilth, never allowing a weed to grow. This 
practise is, however, becoming less prevalent, and for certain 
soils the question is practically settled in the minds of nearly 
all orchardists, while for other soils there is still doubt. For the 
heavier soils, which continuous shallow cultivation is apt to ren- 
der too compact, it is necessary to have recourse to the plow to 
open the land for proper aeration and penetration of moisture 
which otherwise would be largely lost by surface run-off. The 
lighter soils do not require this and they seem to do well with 
continuous use of the cultivator. It is beginning to be clearly 
seen, however, that this treatment tends toward the decrease of 
the humus and the consequent impoverishment of the soil. Its 
water-holding capacity is also lessened. These facts have in- 
duced some growers to change their practise and take up the 
plow during late winter or early spring to cover in the growth 
of green stufT which they allow to grow instead of frequently 
destroying it with the winter use of the cultivator. Either the 
fall and spring plowing, or both, followed by the summer use of 
the cultivator, is the most rational and satisfactory practise for 
most of our deciduous orchards, though there are local condi- 
tions and circumstances under which different procedure is pref- 
erable. 

SUMMER CULTIVATION. 

Whatever the winter policy may be, the essential point in 
summer cultivation is to preserve the surface layer of pulverized 
earth. It will not do to have a few inches of clods, from the size 
of a pea to that of a goose-egg, resting on a hard surface. The 
finer the pulverization the shallower can be the surface layer, 
and vice versa, and this is probably one reason why in practise 



152 Fining the Surface. 

the work of the plow is, in so many situations, found the best 
foundation upon which to rest the year's cuhivation. 

In order to secure this finely-pulverized layer, it is some- 
times necessary to use what is called a "rubber," where there 
are many clods which are merely displaced by the harrow or 
cultivator. There are different styles, and they are generally 
home-made. The most common form is made of two-inch plank 
in lengths of three or four feet, bolted or spiked to pieces of four- 
by-four-inch scantling running crosswise, the edges of the planks 
lapped like the clapboards which are used at the East for weather 
boarding. As these edges are drawn over the surface, the clods 
are rubbed into tilth if they are not too hard and dry. 

But this rubbing may be very undesirable if it leaves the 
surface smooth and polished. It may reflect the sunheac even 
to tree-burning, and it is apt to form an evaporating surface, 
which is most to be avoided. The best finish for the land is 
that produced by a light, fine-tooth harrow, and an attachment 
of this kind is provided with various clod crushers and cultiva- 
tors. The result is a surface of loose earth, flat and fine, which 
approaches very closely an ideal condition. 

There is less difference than formerly in the use of the har- 
row or cultivator during the summer. Still some are content 
to use the cultivator only as a weed-killer, and after the weeds 
cease to grow and the spring showers are over, the cultivator is 
laid aside and the land is left unstirred until the following win- 
ter. This, of course, refers to unirrigated ground, for wherever 
irrigation is practised, a cultivator mu-t follow. It is a fact, how- 
ever, that even if no rain falls, the soil becomes compacted to a 
certain degree, and the best way to imprison the greatest possi- 
ble amount of moisture below is to run the cultivator at intervals 
all through the dry season. It should run shallow and only stir 
the surface layer. The experience of the most successful grow- 
ers is that frequent stirring without, however, bringing new soil 
to the air, is the best-paying practise. 

WHAT IS THOROUGH CULTIVATION. 

As clean, thorough cultivation has been approved, it may 
be desirable to attempt to define the term. It can, however, 
only be approximately done, because of the great difference in 
individual views and practises. Some indication of the opera- 
tions w^hich are contemplated may be had in the following spec- 
ifications upon w^hich contracts have been let for care of or- 
chard: First, plowing away from the trees, followed by harrow- 
ing; second, plowing toward the trees, followed by harrowing; 
ten summer workings with cultivator; three workings with shal- 
low cultivator or weed-cutter: five hand hoeings around the 



Service of a Mulch. 153 

trees. The contract intends the most complete and perfect 
working of the soil and specifies the above merely that there may 
be no difference of opinion between owner and contractor. 

In cases where the land is infected with morning-glory, 
weekly cultivation is stipulated for in some cases, and this seems 
about the only way to cope with this formidable trespasser. 

CULTIVATION FOR WEED KILLING. 

Cultivation for weed killing is a minor consideration in Cal- 
ifornia, because cultivation for moisture conservation effectually 
disposes of most of them, and weeds do not start readily in the 
earth-mulch during the dry season. There are, however, a few 
most persistent pests whicli require heroic measures. Johnson 
grass and morning-glory are the most prominent of these. The 
only successful treatment consists in cutting constantly with a 
weed-cutter (a sharp horizontal knife), operated so as to pass 
under the whole surface and run so often that the plant is never 
allowed to show a shoot on the surface. It is of no use merely 
to cultivate or "weed-cut" as for other weeds. This spreads the 
pest more and more; but if the rising shoots are continually cut 
under the surface, and never allowed to get the light, it will kill 
the plant surely, but it may take two seasons to do it. Weed- 
cutting knives of this description are usually contrived by local 
smiths and are attached to sleds or fitted with plow-handles, or 
used with a pair of thills and cultivator-handles, or other rig- 
ging as the operator may choose. The vital point is a blade of 
sheet steel, very sharp, and rigged to run just under the surface. 
It must be used as often as once each week. 

MULCHING A SUBSTITUTE FOR CULTIVATION. 

The use of a mulch or covering of the ground with a litter 
of light materials to prevent evaporation, is practised to a small 
extent in this State. Though mainly used for berries of differ- 
ent kinds, recourse has also been had to mulching by vineyard- 
ists. The materials used are various, such as partly-rotted straw, 
coarse manure, damaged hay, corn-husks, corn-stalks, vine 
prunings and leaves, and even fine brush from adjacent thickets. 
The practise has been found of greatest value on hillsides where 
cultivation is difficult, and d?.nger of washing of loose soil is 
great. There are cases where vines have been grown several 
years in this way to the satisfaction of the owner. The danger 
of fire in our dry climate when the surface is covered to a depth 
of several inches with a dry mulch is considerable. As a rule, the 
mulch employed by the California grower is a perfect pulveriza- 
tion of the surface soil, as has been described. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

FERTILIZERS FOR FRUIT TREES AND VINES. 

Californians are but just beginning to use fertilizers in their 
orchards and vineyards. Some people have even held that Cali- 
fornia soils would never need fertilization, and that there is 
something in our soil and climate which releases us forever from 
repaying anything to the ground for the wealth of produce 
which we take from it. Such a view is, of course, without foun- 
dation, and yet it is not dil^cult to see how it arose. Early 
attempts to enrich the soil by the turning under of coarse stable 
manure, as is done in other countries, was undertaken here on 
light soil in a region rather short of rainfall. The manure did 
not decompose, and its coarse materials made a soil, already too 
light to retain moisture well, so open and porous that its mois- 
ture was quickly carried away by evaporation, and crops did not 
grow so well as upon adjacent land which had not been manured. 
So the fiat went forth against manure. The corrals* became 
undisturbed guano deposits, and manure piles were fired in dry 
weather to get the soil poison out of the way. Innumerable tons 
of bones were gathered and ground in San Francisco and 
shipped away to countries which need fertilizers. Nature did 
much to foster the popular delusion, for field crops were glo- 
riously large, and trees and vines grew rampantly and bore fruit 
the weight of which they were unable to sustain. How could 
there be more conclusive evidence that manure was a detriment 
to California soils? 

It is foreign to our purpose to discuss the general subject of 
the use of fertilizers in California, and the changes in belief and 
practise which have recently gained ground. Of course, the 
marked falling of¥ in the yield of shallow-rooting cereals gave 
the first unmistakable intimation that there was something 
wrong about the old theory of the perpetual youth of California 
soils. The lands used for fruit will be last to show exhaustion, 
because trees are deep feeders, and the soils, as they are often 
the very best and deepest of the State, selected for fruit because 
of that very character, possess, in an eminent degree, lasting 



*Inclosures for live stock of any kind. 
(154) 



ll'heji to Fertilize. 155 

properties, as is shown in the chapter on the fruit soils of CaUfor- 
nia. But certain of these soils are already showing the need of 
refreshment, and intelligent growers are quick to minister to 
the lands which are giving them such generous returns, as they 
can well afford to do. Present progress in the use of fertilizers 
rests upon the clearly demonstrated hunger of the orange tree. 
An active fertilizer trade has proceeded from a center in Los 
Angeles and asserted itself all through the southern citrus re- 
gions. More recently growers of other fruit and nut-bearing 
trees have seen that even the deepest and richest soils could not 
honor unlimited drafts upon their fertility, and money expended 
for fertilizers has continually increased. Recently, too, fruit 
growers in the upper regions of the State have learned the need 
and the profit in fertilizing, and in the future natural manurial 
supplies will be carefully husbanded and commercial fertilizers 
will be profitably used. 

WHEN IS FERTILIZATION NECESSARY? 

Though the use of fertilizers by our fruit growers is begin- 
ning, it should be plainly stated that at present, except perhaps 
with citrus fruit trees, or the oldest orchards of other fruits, it 
is not the rule that such applications are necessary. There is 
reason to believe that we have some soils which are really too 
rich for fruit. There is sometimes an overrank growth of wood, 
which delays or prevents the formation of fruit buds, and there 
is a marvelous development of fruit which is inconsistent with 
the highest quality. For this reason the grower should not 
conclude, from the foregoing general remarks concerning the 
need of fertilization in California, that he must manure his soil 
whether it needs it or not. Especially is this the case with 
young trees, in which the wood growth is easily overstimulated. 
As with irrigation, so in fertilization; the tree or vine itself will 
give the observing grower hints as to its needs, and if the growth 
of wood and color of foliage are such as obviously indicate 
health and vigor, it may be concluded that the plant needs 
nothing but good cultivation and intelligent pruning. 

Usually cases of overrich ground will cure themselves as 
the trees attain size and full bearing, and it is then that fertiliza- 
tion may be necessary. When the tree or vine which has been 
properly pruned and cultivated is not able to mature a good 
weight of well-developed fruit, and make a satisfactory wood 
growth, usually at the same time showing some degree of dis- 
tress by the color of its foliage, it needs help; and if the grower 
is sure that the trouble is not from lack of moisture in the soil, 
he should bestir himself in the manuring of his orchard or vine- 
yard. In examining the soil for moisture, one should dig 



156 What Fertilizers to Use. 

deeply, for there have been cases of moisture near the surface, 
and drouth below. 

WHAT FERTILIZERS TO APPLY TO FRUIT TREES AND VINES. 

A discussion of this subject from a chemist's point of view 
is beyond the scope of this volume. The reports of the Univer- 
sity Experiment Station at Berkeley are rich in details of the 
researches and deductions therefrom by Dr. E. W. Hilgard, who 
maintains the position that the most intelligent and economical 
choice of fertilizers is to be made after ascertaining by analysis 
in what constituents the soil is deficient and in what it is well 
supplied. Applications made in conformity wiih suggestions 
based upon analysis have proved very satisfactory. But as soils 
Vary within narrow limits of area, there must be analysis for 
each soil in question. 

Approaching the matter of choosing fertilizers without soil 
analysis, the method by local trial is open. In this recourse 
there is danger of error, as pointed out by Dr. Hilgard, arising 
from local dififerences in soil and subsoil, and must be checked 
by several check plots so interposed between the others as to 
not only check them by direct comparison, and to prevent the 
washing of fertilizers from one fertilized plot to another, but 
they must also be compared, first of all, among themselves, to 
determine what is the normal product of the unfertilized land. 
It will frequently be found that these unfertilized check plots 
differ more widely between themselves than do the fertilized ones 
from them or from each other. It usually takes several seasons 
to come to definite results. 

From these statements it must appear that the prescription 
of fertilizers is not an easy matter. Disappointments will natu- 
rally be encountered, but unquestionably the advantage is on the 
side of patient trial and wise investment in fertilizers honestly 
made and honestly sold. One of the most manifest needs of the 
State is a fertilizer-control law which shall provide surety to the 
purchaser of the purity and identity of the materials which are 
offered for sale. Efforts to secure the enactment of such a law 
have been repeatedly made without success. Active and united 
ellfort to secure a wise law alone can succeed. 

Though the deficiencies of the soil, as learned by analysis, 
or by practical test, must be the basis of prescription of fertiliz- 
ers, the analyses of fruits, as showing the special needs of the 
plants, are of the highest importance. The following analyses 
of the dilTerent fruits, containing, in each case, skin, pulp, and 
seeds, are almost entirely from California-grown specimens, and 
are supposed to represent an average composition of the fruits 
named. 



What the Fruits Contain. 



157 



Quantities of Soil Ingredients Withdrawn by Various Fruits. 

[Compiled from analyses by Mr. G. E. Colby, University of California.] 



Fresh Fruit. 
1,000 pounds. 



Total Ash. 
Pounds. 



Potash. 
Pounds. 



Lime. 
Pounds. 



Phosforic 
Acid. 



Pounds. 



Nitrogen. 
Pounds. 



Almonds t 

Apricots 

Apples 

Bananas 

Cherries 

Chestnuts t 

Figs 

Grapes 

Lemons 

Olives 

Oranges 

Peaches 

Pears 

Prunes, French 

Plums 

Walnuts! 



17.29 
5-o8 
2.64 

10.78 
4.82 
9-52 
7.81 
5.00 
5-26 

1350 
4-32 

5-3" 
2.50 
4.86 

5-35 
12.98 



9-95 
3.01 
1.40 
6.80 

2.77 

3-67 
4.69 

2.55 

2.54 

9.11 

2. II 

3-94'* 

1-34 

3.10 

341'' 
8.18 



1.04 
.16 
.11 
.10 
.20 

1.20 
•85 
•25 

1-55 

2.43 
•97 
.14 
.19 
.22 
•25 

1.55 



2.04 
.66 
•33 
•17 
•72 

1.58 
.86 
.11 
.58 

125 

•53 
.85* 
■34 
.68 

•75* 
1.47 



7.01 
1.94 
1.05 
.97 
2.29 
6.40 
2.38 
1.26 

I-5I 
5.60 
1.83 
1.20^ 
.90 
1.82 
1. 81 
541 



t Including hulls. 



* Estimated. 



FIRST AID TO THE INJURED SOIL. 

Based upon the clear characteristics of CaHfornia soils as 
already indicated in the chapter on that subject, and supported 
by wide observation of results of fertilization, Dr. Hilgard gives 
these general suggestions: — 

Any large-scale fertilization should begin with phosphates 
and nitrogen, and, should this not prove fully satisfactory, then 
with potash also, this being the order in which these substances 
are likely to become deficient in most of our soils under cultiva- 
tion. In the course of time potash fertilization will become widely 
necessary in this State. Under continuous heavy cropping with 
small fruits, such as strawbeiries. potash fertilization has already, 
as a matter of fact, become necessary at some points, and will 
gradually become more so. On the gray soils of the foot-hills of 
Amador and Placer Counties it is necessary from the very outset, 
these soils being as poor in potash as Eastern lands. The same 
is true of some of the sandy lands of the interior. 

AVAILABLE SUPPLIKS OF PHOSPHATES. 

Phosphatic manures are now being supplied to fruit growers 
by importers and manufacturers located in various California 
cities, and results attained by their use are such as to warrant 
continuance. They are bone and rock phosphates, which are 



158 Potash Fertilizers. 

transformed into superphosphates, and, with nitrogenous matter 
added, serve as good apphcations both for growth and fruiting. 
Home-made Bone Manures. — Mucli good bone manure can 
be made by collecting bones, heads, horns, feet, etc., from 
butchers' shops or elsewhere. How to make such material avail- 
able, by simple proceedings, is described by Professor Hilgard 
as follows: — 

1. Bones put into a well-kept (moistened) manure pile will themselves 
gradually decay and disappear, enriching the manure to that extent. 

2. Raw bones may be bodily buried in the soil around the trees; if 
placed at a sufficient depth, beyond the reach of the summer's heat and 
drouth and cultivating tools, the rootlets will cluster around each piece, 
and, in course of a few years, consume it entirely. 

3. Bones may be packed in moist wood ashes, best mixed with a little 
quick-lime, the mass kept moist but never dripping. In a few months the 
hardest bones will be reduced to a fine mush, which is as effectual as super- 
phosphate. Concentrated lye and soil may be used instead of ashes. In 
this process the nitrogen of the bones is lost, going ofT in the form of 
ammonia, the odor of which is very perceptible in the tank used. 

For neither of these processes should the bones be burned. The burn- 
ing of bones is an unqualified detriment to their effectiveness, which can 
only be undone by the use of sulphuric acid. 

4. Bones steamed for three or four hours in a boiler under a pressure 
of thirty-five to fifty pounds, can, after drying, be readily crushed in an 
ordinary barley-crushing mill, and thus be rendered more convenient for 
use. Practically, very little of the nitrogen (glue) of the bones need be thus 
lost. 

POTASH. 

Though, as already stated, potash is commonly in good sup- 
ply in California soils, it is very desirable to guard supplies well, 
because, as the fruit analyses already given show, the use of 
this substance by fruit trees and vines is very large. Recent ex- 
periments also show that potash ministers directly to the quality 
of the fruit in some cases. Ashes from wood fires are the most 
available source of potash, but it is a mistake to regard wood 
ashes as valuable only for their potash contents. Professor 
Storer has found by analysis of a number of samples of house 
ashes, that selected samples contain S'-^ per cent of real potash, 
and 2 per cent of phosphoric acid, or say 4/2 pounds of potash 
and one pound of phosphoric per bushel. Hence there is enougli 
potash and phosphoric acid to make a bushel of ashes worth 
twenty or twenty-five cents, and besides that, some ten or fifteen 
cents additional may be allowed for the "alkali power" of the 
ashes, i. c, the force of alkalinity which enables ashes to rot 
weeds and to ferment peat. 

These facts suggest to the frtiit grower that hv should care- 
fully preserve all home-made wood ashes and apply them to the 
soil at once, or, if stored for future application, be sure that they 
are kept dry. Leached ashes from the lye barrel, or ashes from 



Nitrogen and Gypsum. 159 

open piles, leached by rains, are hardly worth handling. Coal 
ashes are almost devoid of fertilizing properties, thoiigh, if finely 
divided, as in the case of coals burning completely, their use is 
beneficial, mechanically, on clay soils, in the same way that fine 
sand would be. 

The chief supplies of potash salts are now brought from Ger- 
many and are in the hands of local dealers, but there are exten- 
sive deposits in Utah, New Mexico, and elsewhere in the interior, 
which can be employed when railroads make them available. 

NITROGEN. 

Nitrogen ministers directly to the vegetable activity of the 
plant and is a wonderful stimulant of wood growth and foliage. 

Supplies of this substance can be had from animal manures 
as far as available, but the most convenient, and at present cer- 
tainly the cheapest and most available, source of nitrogen at 
command of the farmer is Chile saltpeter, which contains about 
sixteen per cent of nitrogen, in its most eftective form. From 
one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds per acre is the 
usual dose. Sulphate of ammonia is the other most available 
source of nitrogen obtainable in commerce; a good commercial 
article contains twenty per cent and over of nitrogen. It does 
not, however, act quite as rapidly as the Chile saltpeter. A sug- 
gestion of caution in the use of nitrogenous manures will be 
given presently. 

LIME, GYPSUM, AND MARL. 

Lime is another substance usually abundant in California 
soils, but still often desirable as an application. This is, notably, 
the case on our heavy clays or adobes, where, as has already 
been mentioned in another connection, the use of lime as a top 
dressing, at the rate of six hundred to one thousand pounds to 
the acre, not only makes the heavy soil more friable, but acts 
upon and makes available the large amount of organic matter 
which such soils usually contain. Lime also renders inorganic 
materials more available for plant food, corrects acidity, and may 
destroy insects and fungi. Application of lime is also desirable 
after applications of barn-yard manure have been made for 
several years; and it is especially valuable wherever, in alluvial 
soils rich in vegetable matter, there is an excessive growth of 
wood and leaf. Usually light soils are not materially benefited 
by the use of lime. 

Ground limestone is sometimes proposed as a fertilizer, and 
has ever been offered on the market. It is insoluble and inert 
carbonate of lime, and is not worth the cost of hauling any dis- 
tance. It cannot take the place of burned limestone. 



i6o Barn-yard Manure. 

Gypsum. — Gypsum, or land plaster (sulphate of lime), occurs 
in considerable quantities in this Slate and Nevada, and is now 
being mined and ground at a low price in the San Joaquin Val- 
ley. It acts directly in correcting soils made alkaline by presence 
of carbonate of soda. Applied to soils not alkaline, gypsum sets 
free potash, inagnesia, and ammonia, which may be present in 
insoluble form; and it also causes potash to be transferred from 
the upper to the lower layers of the soil, so that roots can every- 
where find a store of it. Hence its special value when applied to 
deep-rooting plants. The reason why gypsum is so capricious 
in its action, which was long a mystery, is now held to be clear, 
because upon soils that are tolerably rich in fixed potash it will 
do good service, while upon soils poor in potash it will not. In 
any event gypsum is to be regarded as an excitant rather than as 
a form of plant food. 

Of the several uses of gypsum, probably its chief value lies 
in its power as an absorbent. If added to manure in excess it 
delays fermentation, and it is, therefore, not a desirable addi- 
tion to the compost heap. But for covering fermenting manures 
or scattering around moist places in horse and cow stables to 
absorb odors and fix volatile manurial substances it is of value. 

Marls. — Marl is a calcareous earth, and is called shell marl, 
rock marl, earthy marls, etc., according to its origin and mechan- 
ical condition. A number of samples from different parts of 
the State have been analyzed by Professor Hilgard, and some of 
them commended for local application to soils needing lime, but 
not valuable enough to warrant hauling far. 

BARN-YARD MANURE AND COMPOST. 

Where fruit growing is carried on with stock growing, there 
are abundant supplies of manure available, but this combination 
is not characteristic of California, though prevailing to some ex- 
tent, and likely to be more prevalent as fruit planting extends 
farther from the centers which are wholly given tO' it. But even 
in the fruit centers there are certain amounts of material avail- 
able from the animals that are kept for cultivation and hauling, 
or to be had, often, for the expense of hauling from adjacent 
towns. 

As already stated, coarse, unrotted manure can seldom be 
used to advantage in this State unless it be in heavy soils in 
regions of ample rainfall, or on lighter soils, perhaps, if well irri- 
gated; and even in such situations either finely-divided or well- 
rotted manure is infinitely superior. Corral scrapings, which 
are usually the first recourse when the idea of manuring springs 
up in a neighborhood, are not always well decomposed, but they 
are finely divided, and therefore decompose readily as compared 



Treatment of Compost. i6i 

with coarse straw, which, it is said, has been found practically 
unchanged even after lying two years in a dry, loose soil. It is, 
therefore, of the greatest advantage to prepare barnyard manure 
with care for use in this State by some such method as will be 
described below, which includes composting, thereby turning to 
account nearly all organic material likely to be available: — 

Clean up all the manure on hand just before the fall rains, putting the 
same on the land, and either cultivate it in or plow it under. What manure 
accumulates during the winter pile in a snug heap some five or six feet in 
depth, and throw it over some three or four times during the winter to 
keep it from burning, as well as to thoroughly mix it and thereby hasten 
decomposition. Put horse, cow, hog, chicken, and every other kind of 
manure that can be had, all together. Never burn anything that will rot, 
but haul to the pile corn-stalks, roots, and all squash, melon, tomato, and 
potato vines, etc., as well as weeds of every description, in fact, anything 
and everything that will decay and make vegetable matter. Use fresh 
horse manure mostly to hasten the decomposition of said vines, weeds, 
etc., alternating as the heap is made. By so doing there will not be a weed 
seed left with vitality enough to germinate. It it well to have manure piles 
under a roof to avoid leaching during the longest and most excessive rains, 
but so situated that some of the rain falling on the barn can be easily con- 
ductisd to the piles, giving them just the amount of water necessary to wet 
thoroughly without leaching, and no more.* 

Treatment of Manure zvithout Composting. — Even when com- 
posting all refuse vegetable matter with the manure is not 
thought worth the time and trouble, it is just as important to 
properly treat the manure when stored alone. This can be easily 
done by some such plan as is described below : — 

Collect the stable manure in a large bin and keep it wet enough to 
prevent burning or "fire-fanging." With a bin, say ten or twelve feet 
square and five or six feet high, built convenient to the barn, the manure 
can be placed therein and watered daily with much less trouble than it can 
be composted with other material. This, of course, presupposes the abil- 
ity to run the water in through a hose or by natural flow. Care must, of 
course, be taken that too much water be not supplied, causing the sub- 
stance to be leached from the pile. But in my own experience I find the 
danger is at the other extreme, and when I open my pile I sometimes 
wish I had used more water. In filling the bin leave one end or side open 
as long as possible, for convenience of filling.f 

Barn-yard manure and compost carefully prepared in some 
such way as described, and applied before the rains or early in 
the rainy season, to be turned under at the first plowing, will be 
in condition to be readily assimilated, and will not injure any soil. 

Sheep Manure. — The proximity of the orange orchards of 
southern California to extensive sheep ranges led to large use of 
the manure from the sheep corrals until supplies were practi- 
cally exhausted. Recently large deposits in the San Joaquin 



*Ira W. Adams, Calistoga. 
t B. C. Brown. 



1 62 Vahie of Waste Products. 

Valley have been opened, and the material, which has shown 
value by analysis in one case of above $14 per ton, is finely 
ground and placed upon the market in a business way. The 
deposit mined by George C. Roeding & Co., of Fresno, is sev- 
eral acres in extent and at some points the material is ten feet 
deep. 

Sheep manure is usually counted richer and quicker, though 
not so lasting in its effects, as stable manure. Being highly ni- 
trogenous, too free use of sheep manure tends to excessive 
growth of wood, especially on young trees. Old bearing trees 
may be benefited by such a stimulant. 

VARIOUS WASTE PROnUCTS. 

The care advised in saving and treating barn-yard manure, 
hen manure, bones, ashes, etc., should be extended to other waste 
products of the farm. Soapsuds should be allowed to run to 
adjacent trees unless used in the flower garden. Peelings and 
corings of fruit, cut for drying, should be fed to pigs and the 
resulting manure secured. It is not wise to corral the swine in 
a dry run in the summer and allow the manure to be sluiced out 
by the winter rise of the stream. 

Primings. — Prunings of the orchard and vineyard should be 
burned between the rows, in small piles, so as to distribute the 
ashes well. Danger to adjacent trees may be avoided by using 
portable, home-made tin shields on the sides of the fires. It is 
not wise to carry all the prunings to the side of the highway and 
burn them there and allow the ashes to be lost. Vineyard prun- 
ings are sometimes cut up with an arangement lik^ a straw- 
cutter, which reduces them to bits about an inch in length. They 
are then scattered over the surface of the ground, turned under 
at the next plowing, and soon decay. Where, through light- 
ness of soil and short rainfall, the woody fiber does not readily 
decay, burning upon an iron sled about ten feet long is practised. 
At its front is a V-shaped iron rod, to which a horse can be 
hitched. On the sled are flaring sheet-iron sides and perforated 
bottom. This is filled with brush, a fire kindled, and as the horse 
moves forward fresh brush is added, while the ashes by its 
motion are sifted out very evenly all over the vineyard. 

Refuse from Wineries. — The fermented husks, stems, and 
seeds, all containing valuable fertilizing properties, are often 
spread on the road and in holes, where it is of no account what- 
ever. If scattered over the vineyard, much valuable substance 
would be returned to the soil. In some soils application of raw 
refuse would be undesirable because of tlie acidity developed. It 
is usuallv safe on calcareous soils, and for other soils should be 



How to Apply Fe7'tilizers. 163 

composted with lime or wood ashes to faciHtate decay and neu- 
tralization of the acid. Of winery refuse the lees are especially 
valuable because of tlie supplies of potash they contain, but they 
are now being largely used in the manufacture of tartaric acid. 

Other Waste Products. — -There are available fro-m various 
manufactories different waste products which can not be specified. 
When any such material comes to the notice of the fruit grower, 
he should seek advice from the Agricultural Experiment Station, 
at Berkeley, as to the probable value of the material, and its 
special uses. 

CAUTION IN USE OF FERTILIZERS. 

Besides the injunction already given against application of 
fertilizers when the soil is already quite rich enough to produce 
good fruit and plenty of it, it should be noted that manures un- 
duly rich in animal matter should be used with caution, as they 
may overstimulate the plant, delay or reduce fruiting, injure the 
c[uality of the fruit, and possibly engender disease in the tree or 
vine. Excessive size and pufiiness of oranges is clearly due to 
excessive use of nitrogenous manures. 

The efifect of excessive use of stable manures, or other 
manures very rich in nitrogen, upon the products of the vine has 
been frequently noted. 

METHODS OF APPLYING FERTILIZERS. 

Suggestions concerning proper application of barn-yaird 
manures, both to young trees at planting and to bearing trees 
and vines, have already been given. The same conditions which 
cause slow decomposition of stable manures apply to any fertil- 
izing material which is not readily soluble in water. All inch 
material should be in a ftnely-divided state. Surface applica- 
tions of ground bone, will, in the dry climate of California, lie 
practically unchanged for a long period. Ground bone should 
be plowed in as deeply as can be done without injury to the 
roots of trees and vines, and then, if the surface is kept culti- 
vated, it will lie in moist strata and decompose, or be seized by 
the searching rootlets. On the other hand, superphosphate, or 
other really soluble chemical fertilizers, will produce immediate 
results, and can be most economically used on light and easily 
permeable soils, on which falling water sinks and does not flow 
over the surface. In leachy soils a part of such fertilizers might 
be carried down beyond the reach of shallow-rooting plants, but 
there is little danger of this in the case of trees and vines. 

When superphosphate is used on irrigated ground, it is 
sometimes drilled in to prevent its being carried along with the 
running water. One way is to run a chisel-tooth cultivator 



164 Fertilizers in Irrigatiofi Water. 

ahead of the grain-seed drill and to distribute and drill in the 
fertilizer as deep as feasible to do without injuring the roots. 

Manures xvith Irrigation Water. — Distribution of fertilizers 
by using the flow of irrigation water is described by A. S. Chap- 
man, as follows: — 

We shovel sheep i^ianure into the irrigating ditches, allowing each tree 
to receive about twenty-five pounds at each separate irrigation. Our basins 
cover the entire surface of the ground. We make no effort to choke such 
weeds as clover, alfilerilla, and the like; but the irrigator with his hoe 
destroys the obnoxious nightshade, hoarhound, and nettle. 

In the fall of the year we follow with copious liming — about three bar- 
rels of unslacked lime to the acre — applied in the following manner at the 
head of our irrigating ditch: We plant a box about three feet wide, six feet 
long, two feet deep, and six inches under the surface of the running water. 
In it we place a barrel of the lime. It slacks and swells to twice its orig- 
inal bulk. A man stands on this with his hoe and sees that the waier car- 
ries it off evenly. With an irrigating head such as we use, a man will run 
into the ditch four barrels a day, or about three barrels to the acre. We 
have a considerable fall, and the water runs very rapidly; but it takes up 
all the lime, and the water runs white, like milk. 

We now leave the orange orchard till spring, when we plow under 
weeds, manure and lime. We thus aim to supply our soil with nitrate of 
lime, potash, and magnesia. Carbonic acid gas is absorbed by the water 
and attacks the inert plant food in the soil; hard-pan is prevented both by 
the mechanical effects of the vegetable matter and the lime. 

The basin method of irrigation, to which allusion is made, 
will be more fully described in the following chapter. 

FERTILIZING MATTERS IN IRRIGATION WATER. 

Water used for irrigation may carry in solution injurious 
substances, as, for example, alkali, as will be noted in the follow- 
ing chapter; or it may carry very valuable fertilizing properties. 
These facts can only be determined by analysis. Professor Hil- 
gard has found that the water of one creek in Alameda County 
carries to the land it irrigates about half a grain of potash in each 
gallon, which means that if twelve inches of such water were 
used on the ground during the season, each acre would receive 
therefrom about twenty pounds of fully available potash. At 
Riverside a crop of oranges requires about forty-two pounds of 
potash per acre, of which the amount of irrigation water gen- 
erally used contains thirty-five pounds besides other matters re- 
quired by plants. These things have a definite cash value in the 
market; and this value the irrigator gets as a free gift in addition 
to the water. Even in the case of the Nile, the sediment is only 
part of the sum of fertility conveyed by the river. 

GREEN MANURING. 

Green manuring consists in plowing under a growth of 
weeds or a sown crop to secure by its decay a contribution of 



Greeti Maniirmg. 165 

humus to the soil. All plants by their decay in the soil add or- 
ganic matter to it, and this matter is of nitrogenous character, 
but leguminous plants do this and a great deal more, for by their 
exclusive ability to use atmospheric nitrogen, There is also 
special value in deep-rooting legume in soil amelioration. There 
is now reason to believe, as has already been stated, that where 
moisture is ample for both alfalfa and trees we shall come to 
using this plant for a permanent cover of orchard ground as a 
substitute for a part of the clean culture which is now observed. 
This is, in fact, already being done to some extent. It is also 
probable that alfalfa can be used for a certain time even where 
its permanent stand is not desirable, for it is not difficult to de- 
stroy alfalfa with a well-sharpened plow although the roots may 
have attained considerable thickness. Of course this, as already 
stated, depends upon moisture supply; where that is not abund- 
ant clean culture for moisture conservation is unavoidable. But 
where moisture in excess of the needs of the trees is available 
it will be used in future indirectly for their benefit in ways we are 
only just beginning to discern, and one of these is likely to be 
the summer growth of legumes in the orchard. 

This is, however, largely a matter for future determination, 
and under ordinary conditions may never be practicable. The 
wider problem is to secure a leguminous plant which will make 
a heavy growth during the winter months, so that it can be 
plowed in early in the spring, and the ground put in shape for 
the thorough surface pulverization to prevent evaporation of 
moisture during our long, dry summer. For this reason we can- 
not use many plants which are used for green-manuring in humid 
climates. Crimson clover, cow peas, etc., do not make good 
winter growth. They make exuberant growth for a time in the 
spring when heat is adequate and moisture abundant, but at 
that time it is too late to grow crops for plowing under because 
the soil is too dry for their decay and their presence tends other- 
M'ise to the loss of moisture and makes it very difficult to secure 
a good surface tilth. The greatest care must be had not to allow 
a growth of weeds to stand too long or its covering will do more 
harm than good. These tender legumes may have some local 
value on moist lands in the summer time, but hardy legumes are 
the desideratum both for winter forage and green-manuring. 
The common "bur clover ' (Mcdicago daiticnlata) is proving very 
satisfactory in some parts of the State, and the "Canadian field 
pea" is coming into quite wide use in some of the southern citrus 
orchards. Experiments are also in progress with the lupines 
which mav vield valuable results. 



CHAPTER XV. 

IRRIGATION OF FRUIT TREES AND VINES. 

Whether fruit shall be grown with irrigation or not is a local 
and specific question, and it must be answered with due regard 
for several conditions, among which are: First, the minimum 
local rainfall; second, the character of the soil and subsoil; third, 
the situation and environment of the ground on which the fruit 
is to be groAvn; fourth, the kind of fruit which it is desired to 
produce. 

These conditions are all correlated, and a knowledge of 
them all is necessary to an intelligent decision as to correct prac- 
tise in any given locality. For example, the amount of rainfall 
which is adequate in one locality, or in one situation, even, may 
be quite insufficient in another, because, first, one soil may be 
deep and fairly retentive, into which roots can penetrate and find 
abundant moisture; second, another soil may have sufficient 
depth, but be so porous as to lose its moisture by evaporation, 
or so leachy as to lose it by drainage; third, still another may be 
shallow, and quickly dried out under a fervid sun, or quickly 
drained by reason of a sloping substratum of rock or hard-pan, 
while another similar soil, differently situated, may receive abund- 
ant moisture from the drainage of the slope above it; fourth, 
possibly in all the soils cited there might be adequate moisture 
for deciduous fruits, but citrus fruits would require irrigation; or 
enough for young, but not for bearing trees. 

Thus it appears that even to decide whether a location has 
sufficient rainfall for the growth of fruit without irrigation, one 
must pass judgment upon all the conditions first mentioned. It 
is hardly worth while, then, to discuss such a topic upon theoret- 
ica Igrounds, or to attempt to answer the general question, Siiall 
irrigation be employed in the growth of fruit? The true guide 
is enlightened local experience, and the true test is the growth 
of the tree and the excellence of its fruit. So long as the grower 
is able to secure every year a generous amount of good-sized 
and excellent fruit by natural rainfall, he need concern himself 
very little about irrigation; if his tree shows distress, and his 
fruit, even when properly thinned out, is not up to market stand- 
ards every year, he may do well to provide himself with irriga- 
tion facilities, either for constant use or to supplement rainfall 
when it is occasionally deficient. 

(167) 



1 68 W/ien Irrigatioyi is Needed. 

Of course it is not commended as a rule of practise that 
the grower wait until the tree shows signs of distress before 
applying water. This is a very bad plan of proceeding, but the 
visible language of the tree is mentioned as indicating once that 
the tree needs help, either at regular intervals or occasionally, 
and after such a warning the grower should be able to tell by 
examination of the soil and by study of the local rainfall record 
when this need will occur, and apply his water in advance of the 
need. 

Recent experience has enabled fruit growers in all parts of 
California to arrive at a truer conception of the relation of irriga- 
tion to the growth of fruits. Many who have long scouted the 
suggestion that irrigation was necessary for deciduous fruit trees 
in their districts, have during the last few years found that water, 
in addition to the rainfall, was very profitable, either to enable 
large, bearing trees to produce larger fruit, or to maintain in full 
vigor their later summer growth and to make strong fruit buds, 
which ensure the following year's production. It has also been 
widely demonstrated that a tree which is adequately supplied 
with water, no matter vv^hether it be directly from the clouds or 
through the irrigating stream, yields fruit of better size, aroma, 
flavor and carrying quality than a tree which, from any cause, 
falls even a little short of an adequate supply. It is clear then 
that neither irrigation nor non-irrigation are in themselves prin- 
ciples, but are merely methods to be employed when conditions 
demand the one or the other. 

The fact that water is sometimes used to excess, and the 
fruit thus grown is found to be lacking in using and carrying 
qualities, militates not against irrigation, but against the igno- 
rance or carelessness of the grower. It has been clearly shown 
by the experience of our fruit-shippers and canners that wisely- 
irrigated trees bear fruit admirably suited to their purposes, and 
that if proper size is not attained with the natural rainfall, by 
proper cultivation, pruning, and thinning, irrigation should be 
resorted to. Of course the water should be applied at proper 
times, in proper amount, and in a proper way. 

HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD BE USED ? 

This is by its very nature a very elusive question and any 
attempt to answer it by definite prescription is more apt to pro- 
duce folly than wisdom. For as it appears that whether irriga- 
tion is at all needed or not depends upon several conditions 
which must be ascertained in each place, so the amount of water, 
which is really an expression of the degree of that need, depends 
also upon local conditions of rainfall, of soil depth and retentive- 
ness, of rate of waste by evaporation, of the particular thirst of 
each irrigated crop, etc. The result secured by the use of water 



Irrigation for Citrus Fruits. 



169 



is really the ultimate measure of the duty of water in each in- 
stance. Jn the case of fruit trees and vines, then, whatever 
amount of water secures thrifty and adequate wood growth and 
strong, good-colored foliage, but not excessive or rank growth; 
and abundance of good-sized and rich, but not monstrous and 
watery, fruit, is the proper amount for that place and that pro- 
duct, — and to the ascertainment of that amount, by local expe- 
rience of himself and others, the grower should employ his most 
earnest thought and his keenest insight. 

It is, however, a fact that this rapid generation seeketh per- 
sistently after a sign, and has more respect for one who declares 
a recipe than for one who suggests a reason. Evidently some 
outlines, at least, of a prescription must be attempted, and possi- 
bly it may serve as some sort of a measure to those who may be 
beginning without any knowledge whatever on the subject. 

During the year 1899 the writer renewed his data of the irri- 
gation practise of California fruit growers by systematic inquiry, 
and presents in adjacent tables a partial transcript of the results, 
which may be suggestive to mquiring minds. 

Instances of Irrigation Frequency, Season and Volume. 

CITRUS fruits. 

COUNTY Rainfall, ^0°* Time of ^'^'tach''^"* Season 

Con^-^-- inches. \7J- irrigations. irriTadon. totals. 

Tulare 10 5 to 8 April to Oct.. 4 20 to 32 

" 8 to 10 Mar. to Oct.. 6 48 to 60 

Fresno 8 2 to 7 April to Oct.. 2 4 to 14 

Ventura 20 5 to 6 Mar. to Oct.. 2^ i2>^ to 15 

Los Angeles 12 3 June to Oct.. 6 to 9 18 to 27 

" 10 6 May to Oct.. 2>y^ 21 

" 18 3 June to Oct.. 4 12 

" 20 3 to 4 July to Sept.. iK 4/^ to 6 

" 20 3 to 7 " " .. I 3 to 7 

" 20 6 " " .. ^ to 2 4^ to 12 

" 20 7 Mar. to Nov. 1% io)4 

18 3 " " .. 2 6 

" 15 6 May to Oct. 1% 9 

" 20^4:7 ApriltoOct.. i}4 loYi 

18 4 July to Oct.. lYi 6 

Orange 15 4 May to Oct.. 2>^ 10 

" 10 4 to 8 " " .. 2 8 to 16 

" 12 6 to 8 " " .. 4 24 to 32 

Riverside 12 7 May to Nov.. 3 21 

" 7 6 Apr. to Sept. 1% 10 

" 10 7 Apr. to Nov.. 3 21 

8 8 Apr. to Dec. 

" II 3 to 7 May to Nov.. 

" 10 4 to 6 May to Sept. 6 24 to 36 

San Bernardino. 12 6 to 7 June to Oct... 454 to 10 24 to 2,1% 

" 4 to 6 May to Sept. 6 24 to 36 

San Diego 8 4 May to Oct... 2yi 10 

12 5 " " •• 3 15 

" 10 4 to 8 " " .. 2 8 to 16 

" 8 6 to 8 " " .. 4 24 to 32 

" 18 3 June to Oct.. 3 9 



1 7© 



Irrigation for Deciduous Fruits. 



Instances of Irrigation Frequency, Season and Volume. 



DECIDUOUS FRUITS. 



County. 



Rainfall, 
inches. 



Shasta 40 

Butte 28 

Colusa 12 

Nevada 40 

Placer 25 

Sacramento 18 



No. of 
irrig-a- 
tions. 

to 4 



Time of 
irrig-atious. 



Santa Clara 16 

" 20 

15 

" 12 

" 20 

Monterey 13 

Merced 12 

" 10 

Fresno 8 

" 8 

" 8 

Kings 7 

Kern 4 

Inyo zYi 

Los Angeles 18 

" 20 

" 12 

Orange 15 

" 12 

Riverside 15 

" 10 

San Diego 8 



to 4 
8 to 10 
to 3 



to 
to 
to 
to 



to 4 



* An acre-inch is an actual depth 



Acre-inches* 

each 

irrigation. 

Summer 2 

February 12 

Winter 12 

Summer 2^ 

May to Oct... \%. 
June to Oct... i 
July to Sept. i^ 
June to Aug. i^ 
Mar. to June. 3 

March 12 

July to Aug.. 4 

Winter 8 to xo 

Jan. to July. 4 
Feb. to June. 4 

Summer 2 to 3 

3 to 6 

" 2^ 

Februarv 12 

Mar. to July.. 6 

Summer 4 

Mar. to June. 4 
Apr. to Aug. 1^4 
Mar. or Apr. 6 to 9 

July 6 

June to Nov. 4 
Summer 2 

4 

May to Sept. i>^ 
Apr. to Sept. i?^ 

Summer 2 

" 3 

of one inch over the surface. 



Season 
Totals. 



6 
12 
12 

2>^ 
I2>^ 

5 
10 

3 
12 
12 

8 to 10 
12 

4 
6 
6 

I'A 
12 
12 

8 to 16 

8 

1% 

6 to 9 

6 

8 

4 
8 
\]4. to 9 

5 to 6% 

6 to ID 
9 



to 8 
to 24 



to 5 

to I2>^ 

to 9 



to 16 

to 12 

to 24 

to ID 



to 12 

to 6 



The foregoing outline of local practise .shows that infinite 
variety exists and in the nature of the case must exist, and that 
any definite prescription of the dtity of water is impossible. The 
compilation includes, however, the extremes, and in this way 
gives a sort of picture of prevalent practise. In some cases 
cited, in which the amount of water at each irrigation seems 
small, the fact is due to the use of small basins, while in this 
computation the contents are reduced to acre-inches which cover 
the whole surface; in other cases, as, for instance, the frequent 
irrigations in Sacramento and Placer Counties, the soils are shal- 
low, overlying bed-rock, and a small amount saturates them. In 
other places an acre-foot of water is readily absorbed and re- 
tained in the deep soil. The annual rainfall is also seen to have 
little relation to the amount of irrigation, because neither fine 
shallow, nor deep coarse soils, can retain the volume of water 
which falls upon them during the rainy season. Then the vary- 



Winter Irrigation. 171 

ing rate of evaporation, the character of tilth, etc., enter as fac- 
tors, and it becomes clear that he is fortunate enough who knows 
how much water to use on his own place. 

WHEN TO IRRIGATE. 

The outline of experience which has been given includes 
times for irrigation as well as amounts of water vised, but when 
to irrigate is governed by local conditions and the needs of 
different fruits and can not be stated in general rules. There 
are, however, some principles involved which may be hinted at. 

Winter Irrigation. — On lands with suf^cient depth of fairly 
retentive soil, the grower may artificially supplement a scanty 
rainfall by thoroughly soaking the land by winter irrigation, and 
then by careful summer cultivation he will be able tO' conserve 
enough water in the soil to carry deciduous fruit trees or vines 
through bearing and autumn bud formation without further 
water supply. But there are other situations in which no aniount 
of winter irrigation nor rainfall will suffice for these ends. There 
are foot-hill orchard areas in which the winter rainfall is two or 
three times as great as in the valley situations where fruit is suc- 
cessfully grown without irrigation, and yet water must be applied 
in summer on those foot-hills or the fruit would be unmarketable 
and the trees in distress. The forty or more inches of rainfall 
falling on a shallow soil underlaid by a sloping bed-rock in some 
cases nearly sluices the cultivated soil from its foothold, and yet 
the oversaturation in winter avails nothing for summer growth, 
because most diligent cultivation can not retain moisture enough 
in shallow soil thus situated to sustain bearing trees in good 
crops of full-sized fruit. The same is true of valley soils under- 
laid by hard-pan. In such cases winter irrigation could add 
nothing but distress to the soil oversoaked by rainfall, and sum- 
mer irrigation, well-timed and adequate, is the secret of success 
in the orchard. The same conclusion must hold for soils under- 
laid by gravel or sand and thus too rapidly dried by leaching. 

But even this generalization must be accepted only for sit- 
uations endowed with conditions which justify it. There may 
be sloping hills with shallow soil where winter rainfall does not 
amount to saturation. Then winter irrigation to supply such 
saturation is desirable, and then, too, summer irrigation in 
proper amount and at proper intervals, will also be demanded. 
Among the foot-hills, also, there may be localities with depth of 
retentive soil in which water enough can be applied in winter 
to carry trees through the year. Thus we come again to the 
only safe generalization which can be made, and that is, that 
everywhere water must be adequate to the demands of the tree 
at the time it is needed, and whether it can best be applied in 



172 Sicmnier Irrigation. 

summer or winter, or both, or whether it is not necessary to 
make any artificial appHcation at all, depends upon existing con- 
ditions which the grower must ascertain and to which his policy 
and practise must conform. It is a fact, however, that in all 
soils, which under good cultivation are fairly retentive, winter 
irrigation, when water is most abundant, and usually carries 
most sediment, can be made to go far tow^ard making summer 
irrigation unnecessary for all deciduous fruits. 

As to winter irrigation, practise varies, some relying upon 
a single heavy flooding by using checks on contour lines, by 
which, perhaps, a foot in depth or more of water is allowed to 
soak into the soil; others use the same method of application in 
winter as in summer, and, therefore, give a number of irrigations 
in winter. There is, of course, much less danger of injury by 
water to deciduous growths in winter, because they are dormant, 
though an eye should be kept on drainage for excessive irriga- 
tion as for excessive rainfall. The grape and the pear are 
known to endure long submergence, but some other fruits are 
sensitive about it. 

Summer Irrigation. — When this shall begin and when end 
are to be locally deternnned. In some places even the "earliest 
fruits can not reach satisfactory size and quality without irriga- 
tion. In others rainfall with winter irrigation will sulftce for 
proper development of early fruits, but not for late. In both 
cases the fruit may be satisfactory, but the tree unable to hold 
its leaf vigor until the work of the growing season is properly 
completed. It is then apparent that local practise must vary in 
order to reach the universal fact, and that is that all through its 
active season the tree must have constant and adequate moisture 
supply. Many evils in lack of bearing, in dying-back, in unsea- 
sonable activity and the like are due to inadequate, intermittent 
and, in some cases, to excessive moisture in the soil. 

Cultivation and Irrigation. — Vv'ith such an extension of irri- 
gation practise as is now being realized, there is danger that 
those who have previously trusted so fully upon good cultivation 
may swing to the other extreme and trust too much to the stream 
of water and too little to the plow and cultivator. There is a 
temptation this way when one finds that he can run water in 
large amounts very cheaply. Not only is there danger of over- 
irrigation in the growth of tree and fruit, but the ill effects of 
water upon the soil, when unattended by good cultivation, are 
constantly threatened. The tree needs air as well as water; it 
needs a certam free condition of the soil for its best root action. 
These needs can be amply secured when adequate application of 
water is quickly followed by soil-stirring. Irrigated soil rightly 
treated is delightfully mellow and free and of condition to invite 



Ditches for Irrigation. 173 

the fullest activity on the part of the tree. Irrigated ground not 
properly treated becomes compacted, fissured, cloddy and gen- 
erally hateful, losing moisture rapidly, setting around the roots 
like cement and tearing them by its subsequent shrinkage. 
These conditions do not occur on the lighter soils, and yet even 
these are best when cultivated in a rational manner. 

METHODS OF IRRIGATION. 

There are various methods employed in California for the 
conveyance and application of water to trees and vines. Some 
of the principal ones may be enumerated and described as 
follows ; — 

Permanent Ditches. — Permanent runways for water are be- 
coming far less popular than they were in earlier days, because 
it is seen that the trees thrive far better if cultivated. There is, 
however, on hill lands difficult to plow and cultivate, and prone 
to wash, a naturally strong temptation to lay out the ditches once 
for all on grades suitable for slow running of the water, and 
trust to seepage and percolation from these ditches to supply 
moisture to the trees adjacent to them. By this method irriga- 
tion must be more frequent than by other methods which will be 
described, because the soil is not so well saturated, and even the 
m.ore frequent application takes less water than less frequent 
application through newly-turned furrows. There is, also, neces- 
sity for much work with the hoe if the grower pretends to keep 
down the weeds — which, however, is not always done, and the 
running water distributes the seeds. 

Annual Ditches. — A modification of this method, which pre- 
vails to some extent in the foot-hills, consists in giving the or- 
chard a thorough plowing when the heavy rains are over in the 
spring, plowing under the winter growth. The surface is kept 
stirred after later showers. In May shallow ditches are made 
with a double-moldboard plow nearly along contour lines, which 
are quickly located with a level. Slight fall is given so the water 
will flow slowly, and these ditches are used all during that season, 
and allowed to remain to carry down winter water until the next 
thorough working in the following spring. This plan makes 
summer cultivation somewhat difficult, but it may be the best 
method on the sharp foot-hill slopes. 

Large ditches are also used between the rows of bearing 
trees on level land in soils which readily absorb water and the 
roots are widely extended. It is chiefly used on lands adjacent 
to rivers, from which water is pumped in large volume. For 
example, along the Sacramento River, on land that is apt to bake 
by flooding, or by the large check system, soon to be described, 
large ditches are plowed out in tlie centers between the tree rows 



174 The Fitrrozv System. 

and they are kept full of water, often for ten days at a time. This 
is done twice for fruits that ripen before August i, and once 
afterwards for late fruits. The ground between the ditches and 
the trees is cultivated frequently. 

Fresh Furrows. — Irrigation by freshly-turned furrows is the 
most prevalent method in this State, and is popular in all our 
irrigated regions where the soil is such that water freely dis- 
tributes itself laterally, and does not flow directly downward, as 
in some soils. The furrow system, as practised at Riverside, 
will serve to illustrate the method: — 

Along the head of the tree rows is placed a flume of wood or cement 
into which the water comes from the measuring box of the water company. 
This is made large enough to carry water sufficient for all the furrows, and 
opposite each proposed stream is a little gate or outlet. A marker or irri- 
gating plow has prepared the land to receive the water by making from 4 
to 6 shallow furrows in each space between the tree rows. Into this the 
water is allowed to slowly run — that is, if the irrigator be an expert. If 
he be not a good irrigator he will turn into each furrow a head sufficient to 
push the water through ia a hurry, and in so doing wash down to his 
neighbor or bick into the river the best of his soil. Some boast that they 
can run water a week without running off their land 2 per cent .of the 
amount received; but these are few in number. The hasty application of 
water has a tendency to form a " slickens " that seems to prevent the 
water from penetrating into the soil as it does when it moves slowly. 
Given time, it will soak so deeply that one may sink a hoe-handle its length 
in the deep and fertile soil. It is only occasionally that the conditions are 
so favorable that it is well to allow the furrows to be over 60 rods in length, 
although eighty is the more common distance. The ideal distance is about 
40 rods, where the grade is perfect.* 

Building Fhmies for the Furrow System. — These are made in 
different ways, but well-made lumber flumes are best on all ac- 
counts. The following are explicit suggestions for construc- 
tion : — 

Sixteen-foot lumber is better than longer. The sides of the flume 
should be of 8-inch lumber throughout, nailed to the side of the bottom, 
making 7 inches high inside. This size will carry about 75 inches of water. 
Reducing the flume in size, and keeping it nearly on a level, will give you 
the same pressure throughout. This is very important in regulating the 
streams. Place the first length about half its depth in the ground, and 
as it goes along and comes up too high, put in a drop of 2 or 3 inches or 
more, if necessary, and so on through the length. The first section, how- 
ever, should be about 2 feet wide, narrowed to the size of the flume so as to 
control the stream. Collars should be put around the flume every 8 feet ot 
distance; that is, one in the center and one to cover the joints at each end. 
These collars should be 2X3-inch stuff on the bottom and sides and 1x3 on 
top. This makes a strong, durable flume. The width of the flume should 
be reduced so the stream will decrease as it goes along; say from 16 inches 
to 14, 12, 10, 8-inch — the sides being the same throughout or reduced so as 
to have lo-inch sides on the 16-inch bottom and 8-inch sides on the rest — 
nailed to the side of the bottom. Two-inch holes are none too large, in 
order to keep them clear of trash, such as leaves, etc. By lifting up the 



*E. W. Holmes, Riverside. 



Flooding, Checks and Basins. 175 

slide of the gale it will wash out. I generally shut the gate down the thick- 
ness of my finger. In this way each gate can be regulated very nicely. 
All flume material should be of the best soft redwood, as the hard warps 
and cracks. 

At the Lower End. — As all conditions have to be very favor- 
able if there is no overflow at the lower end of the furrow-face and 
as the water has less chance to penetrate there it is common to 
run cross-furrows or to make cross-checks which will retain 
water at this point until it soaks in. Others locate an alfalfa 
patch below the orchard into which the overflow passes and is 
utilized. 

Th^ Number- of Fnrrozvs. — There is a wide variation in prac- 
tise in the number of furrows employed for different soils and 
different ages of trees. This must be determined by local ob- 
servation. 

Flooding, Checks, and Basins. — These are different methods 
of bringing the water to bear upon a broad expanse of surface, 
and are best fitted for deep, leachy soils, in which, from the di- 
rect downward course of the water, the distribution by furrows 
would be very imperfect. 

Flooding, as the term implies, consists in allowing the water 
to flow over the whole surface of the ground, dirt being, how- 
ever, drawn up around the tree to prevent access of water to the 
bark, which is a cause of serious disease. Flooding is done by 
running a considerable head of water broadcast down each sev- 
eral row, shifting it from one to another as soon as the stream 
has run through. To use this method the ground must be quite 
level, or serious washing is likely to ensue, and the soil must 
be of rather a porous character, for the water is not held in con- 
tact with the soil, as in other methods. It is obviously a bad 
method for soils disposed to run together, and is so uneven in 
distribution that it has been widely replaced by the check sys- 
tem, which is more rational. 

The Check System. — The check system aims to hold a cer- 
tain depth of water, until it is absorbed, upon all parts of the 
surface except the fraction occupied by the banks or small levees 
which inclose the checks. It requires considerable displacement 
of soil, which necessitates hard work and constant attention while 
the water runs, which is not the case with the furrow system. 
The compensation inust be found in the fact that, when well 
done, there is certainty that each tree has received a certain ade- 
quate amount of water in all parts of the soil-mass which belongs 
to it. 

There are various ways of practising the check system, ad- 
vancing in character from the simple plowing of furrows each 



* A. S. Bradford, Placentia. 



176 How to Make the Checks. 

way between the rows to the construction of well-defined and 
strong- banks with suitable implements which reduce the cost to 
a minimum. The following- method, as practised in Orange 
County, is of the latter class: — 

The ground is deeply cultivate'd, say about five inches deep, so as to 
be able to throw up a high ridge; then with a four or six-horse " ridger " 
run once each way between every row, if it is a citrus or deciduous or- 
chard, and twice should the trees be walnuts, as the larger checks require 
better banks or ridges. After this is done run entirely around the outside of 
the piece to be irrigated, so as to have as perfect a ridge as possible on the 
outside. Then, with one horse attached to what is locally known as a 
"go-devil," proceed to close up one side of the checks. The practise 
generally followed is to close up the high side of the checks, if the land 
does not cut by running water, but if it cuts, close up to the lower side. 
After closing up the checks the ditches are plowed out, and then what is 
known as a "V" is run twice through them to perfect the ditch. On 
lands inclined to cut, it is advisable that the length of the rows to be irri- 
gated should not be over 250 feet, but in heavy land this distance can be 
considerably increased, if necessary, without danger of cutting the ridges 
by too long a run of water. 

If the checks have been closed on the low side of the ridge, it is better 
to run the water to the ends of the ditch and water the last row first; but 
if closed on the high side, water the row nearest the gate or main ditch, as 
the case may be, first, as in each instance there will be dry earth to work 
with, if necessary, when closing up the checks. The water is run down 
the row to the end tree, and as soon as the last check is filled it is closed 
up, and so on till all are filled and closed, when the water is turned down 
the next row.* 

The "ridger" described is a sled with the solid plank "run- 
ners" set farther apart at the front than at the rear. With t' e 
weight of the driver this takes in much loose earth in front, 
which is crowded up as it proceeds to the narrow space behind, 
and is left as a well-defined ridge. The passing of this "ridger" 
in crossing the tirst-made ridges breaks them down, and as many 
as it is desirable to close are quickly fixed by the "go-devil,'^ 
which is a large horse-hoe, or sort of square scoop, fitted with 
thills for the horse and handles for the man. Coming to the gap 
in the ridge the man lifts on the handles and the earth is placed 
to restore the ridge, all but a little touch with a shovel afterwards. 

Sometimes the checks are filled one from another, begin- 
ning on the high side; sometimes a central ditch is formed by 
running the "ridger" twice; finished with the V, and the water is 
admitted to each check from this central ditch. In this way the 
men can work down one side and up the other, and finish at tl'-e 
point where the water is to be diverted to the next set of checks, 
of which several sets should be fixed in advance of the water if 
possible. Weak places in checks or ditches, in soils disposed 10 
cut, can be strengthened by old grain sacks opened out and 
weighted down with soil. 

♦Sydmer Ross, of FuIIertoii. 



w 




The Basin Method. 177 

Basins. — This word is often used to indicate the check sys- 
tem, but should now have a narrower signification to distinguish 
between enclosures which cover nearly the whole space, or only 
a fraction of it. The latter are properly basins. On some slopes 
they are useful because they can be scooped out so as to give a 
very high barrier on the low side. They are also useful in using 
a very small continuous stream without a reservoir. They aie 
defective in not widely distributing moisture and thus inducing 
root extension. They are usually made by hand labor and often 
filled with a mulch of straw or manure to prevent cracking of 
the soil and to reduce evaporation. Whenever they are used 
they should be broken up and the soil thoroughly tilled at least 
once a year. 

DEVELOPMENT AND STOKACE OF WATKK. 

It is, obviously, beyond the limitations of this work to at- 
tempt an extended review of irrigation enterprises and practises. 
The enterprises undertaken by capitalists, or by co-operation 
among settlers, require the services of competent engineers. All 
these matters are too great in extent and variety to be discussed 
in this work. As, however, it has been the aim of the writer to 
aid the inexperienced planter to help himself in small efforts, a 
little space will be given to suggestions as to how a planter may 
develop and use such small water supply as may be derived from 
spring, small creek or well, on his own land without employing 
an engineer. 

Running Lines for Irrigating Ditches. — How far to go up a 
creek in order to bring water out upon a given piece of land 
is a question which frequently arises in individual practise. 
There is also doubt as to how much fall should be given tO' the 
ditch. The fall required by a ditch or canal depends upon the 
amount of water w^hich it is desired that it should discharge, and 
upon the width and depth with which it is intended that the 
water should flow. It may also be dependent upon the charac- 
ter of the soil in which the ditch is to be constructed, and upon 
the peculiarities of the water itself. A strong current in soft 
soil may cause mischievous erosions. Water carrying much 
sediment must never be allowed to move sluggishly, as clear 
water sometimes may. It is best to state the requirements to a 
competent engineer and act on his suggestion, or secure the 
counsel of a neighbor who has had experience with similar soil 
and water. 

Having decided what fall to give the ditch, the nearest 
point at which water can be taken out of a creek to be brought 
to a certain piece of land is found by commencing with the point 
at which the water is to be delivered (generally the highest poirt 



178 



Running Lines for Ditches. 



of the land to be irrigated), and running up stream a line which 
has the inclination intended for the ditch. 

To stake out this line when no special hindrances are in the 
way, use a home-made leveling instrument constructed as fol- 
lows: — 

With sound, straight-edged lumber a triangle is made, as indicated in 
the slietch. The three pieces, A B, 6 feet long, B C, 12 feet long, and C A, 
4 feet long, are made fast to each other at A, B, and C. The board. A D, 
is fastened to the triangle at right angles to B C. Near A, on the board, 
A D, a plumb-line is made fast. The plumb, like a mason's plumb, hangs 
in a hole at /% so that when ^^ Z> is vertical, the string hangs very near the 
surface of the board, A D. 



B 




A Home-made Leveling Instrument. 



It will be seen that when A D '\s exactly vertical, ^^ C is exactly hori- 
zontal, if the angles at D are true right angles. An ordinary carpenter's 
square used in the construction of the apparatus will insure sufficient accu- 
racy in the position of A D. 

In marking on the board, A D, however, the line in which the string 
of the plumb will hang when B C \s exactly horizontal, more care is 
required. Two pegs are driven, as far apart as B and C, for these points 
to rest on. The highest one is driven into the ground until the plumb-line 
follows about the center line of the board, A D. Having marked this 
position of the plumb-line, the triangle is reversed so that the end B rests 
on the peg where before we had the end C, and vice versa. Should the 
plumb-line be in a position at variance with the first one marked on the 
board, then the correct position for the B C horizontal will be exactly in 
the middle between the two found by the aid of the two pegs. 

It will frequently be found convenient to have a scale of feet marked 
off on B C- Holes in the pieces A B and C A a\. E E, or handles, will 
make the triangle convenient to carry. Only two men are necessary in 
using it. 

To use this instrument for locating the line of the ditch, 
calculate the amount which your line should rise between each 
two pegs. Drive a peg at the starting-point with its top say six 
inches from the general surface of the ground. Hold one end 



Use of Leveling Triangle. 179 

of the levelling apparatus above this peg by exactly that amount 
which the line rises per each instrument-length {B C), and swing 
the other end around into the direction from which the ditch is 
to come, until, when level, it is just six inches above the ground. 
Drive a peg here, which will, like the first, be six inches high, 
and proceed as before. Care should be taken to give the top of 
each peg exactly the correct elevation. The level must be hori- 
zontal when resting on any peg, and raised exactly that amount 
which the line rises per level-length, above the preceding peg. 
It will be found convenient to use a carefully-prepared block 
to hold on the top of each stake at the rear end of the level in- 
stead of trusting to measurement each time.* 

Locating Contour Lines for Checks or for Distributing Ditches. 
— This work can be done with the aid of the level above de- 
scribed. For instance, to locate a contour (a line of equal ele- 
vation), as required in the construction of a check levee, drive 
a peg until its top has a convenient elevation from the ground, 
say one foot. Rest one end of the triangle on this peg and 
swing the other around until when B C is horizontal this other 
end has exactly the same elevation from the ground as the top 
of the peg. At this point drive a second peg and proceed as 
before. If the tops of the pegs be chosen as the height of the 
levee, they may be retained as grade stakes as well as line stakes 
for the embankment. 

Storing Water from Small Sources. — For individual uses 
quite a respectable water supply can sometimes be developed 
from apparently mean sources. This can be done by clearing 
out and opening up hillside springs, and often by tunneling into 
the hillside to intercept subterranean water-Hows, or by pumping 
from a well. Even a small spring, yielding but two quarts per 
second, is equivalent to a three-inch stream, and would be suf- 
ficient for several acres in fruit trees. To derive the greatest 
benefit fro'm small springs, however, a reservoir is necessary, 
in which the flow of twelve to twenty- four hours, or even a 
longer period, can be accumulated, and then discharged as re- 
quired. It is by using water in driblets that many springs are 
wasted. A spring supplying even one and a half inches of water 
would be wholly swallowed up by a thirsty soil within two hun- 
dred feet of its source, when, by arresting the flow and accumu- 
lating it in a reservoir and discharging at intervals in a 
volume four times as large, it would more than cover eight 
times the surface. A spring flowing two quarts per second will 
discharge forty-three thousand two hundred gallons in twenty- 
four hours. This would require a reservoir forty by twenty 

* C. E. Grunsky, C. E., in aci^c Rural Press. 



i8o The Small Reservoir. 

feet, and seven feet deep, or double that width if the depth is 
decreased one-half. The shallower it can be made the better, 
for many reasons, but especially on account of the temperature 
of the water. That of springs is generally too low in summer 
for immediate use, and its value is greatly enhanced by being 
raised to an equal or greater temperatrire than that of the air. 
This is quickly done by exposure in a shallow pond. A reser- 
voir can be constructed entirely in the ground where the slope 
will admit of it, and by lining the bottom and sides with clay 
well puddled, will answer for most purposes. Some are built 
of adobe, backed with earth and plastered on the inner side 
with hydraulic cement. Concrete of lime, sand, and broken 
si one, is, however, the best material, where lime can be readily 
obtained, and any person with ordinary mechanical skill can 
construct them. The following hints on a dirt reservoir may be 
suggestive : — 

A reservoir should be built on the highest part of the tract sought to 
be irrigated by scraping the earth from the outside and from such a large 
area as not to affect the utility of the land Irom which it is taken. With a 
levee all around 5 feet high, 4 feet of water could be carried safely. The 
slopes ought to be two to one on the inside. A reservoir 20 feet square 
and 4 feet deep would hold 12,000 gallons. With the slopes as above the 
reservoir should be measured 2 feet from the bottom, or half way up the 
4 feet of water; consequently to lay out a reservoir to hold 12, coo gallons, 
put the stakes 12 feet square and build. For any other sized one take 8 
feet off the same as in this. A reservoir 25 feet square will hold 18,750 
gallons and would be 17 feet square at the bottom; one 30 feet square 
would hold 27,000 gallons and would be 22 feet at the bottom; one 35 feet 
square — 27 at the bottom — will hold 36,000 gallons; one 40 feet square^32 
on the bottom — will hold 48,000 gallons. This spread upon the surface of 
an acre would be a little more than \% inches of rainfall. 

Almost any loam soil will hold water with a little puddling. The 
cheapest way to puddle is to build a pen the size of the intended reservoir, 
including at least a portion of that to be under the embankment, wet it 
very wet, put some hogs in the pen and keep feeding them barley, a little 
at a time, so as to make them not only walk around but root for the barley. 
A half sack of barley fed to eight or ten hungry hogs in half a day will 
make a good puddle. If it did not work satisfactorily the water could be 
taken off and the bottom covered about an inch deep with coarse sand 
mixed one part to five with Portland cement, put in dry, and let it be cov- 
ered slowly. A barrel of cement may be counted at about 4 cubic feet and 
with the mixture above would cover the first-named reservoir about \}i 
inche*^. This would make it tight. The supply pipe should come up from 
the bottom, so that the lift would never be more than the height of the 
surface.* 

Loss of Wafer by Seepage. — The great loss of water by 
seepage during a long rtm has led to the cementing of ditches, 
and to the use of miles of large wooden, concrete and iron pipe 
by the irrigatioti companies of southern California; also, where 
the slope is rapid, paving ditches with rock has been resorted 

* Will S. Green, of Colusa. 



The Cicrrent Wheel. 



i8i 



to. Similar efforts naturally suggest themselves to the user of 
a small water supply to save his flow from loss. Where lumber 
is cheap, the use of a board flume is the most available means 
of saving water. 

Irrigation from Wells. — A considerable area of orchard is 
irrigated from flowing wells in different parts of the State. 
Nearly everywhere in the artesian districts there are local well- 
borers who have kept records of the strata traversed in their 
work and can estimate closely the cost of securing water by this 
method. 

Wells to supplv pumps will be incidentally mentioned in 
connection w'ith a later paragraph oii pumping. They consti- 
tute a great and a growing feature in our present irrigation devel- 
opment. Naturally the availability of wells for irrigation must 




Q^' ... // W C>::^s 

■^.--5> /'. .\ \\ 

^' -« — s&^\y 

End View of Irrigating Wheel. 



be locally determined. Recent experience shows that even deep 
wells can be profitably used with proper pumping appliances. 
Lifting Water from Flowing Ditch or Stream. — Wliere a 
stream has a rapidity of two miles or more per hour, and a lift 
to a height of six to sixteen feet will give head enough to dis- 
tribute the water over a considerable area, there is nothing 
cheaper than the current wheel which is largely used in this 
State. The engraving gives an end view of such a wheel. 
Eight pairs of arms, carrying flat buckets like those of a 
steamboat paddle-wheel, extend from a hub rotating on metal 
bearings. At either end or both ends of each bucket are fixed 
wooden or tin water boxes which fi.U themselves on entering the 
water, and on being brought to the highest point of rotation 
empty themselves into a receiving trough. This trough sup- 
plies the distributing ditches, etc., and its inner end is so placed 
that it comes under the projecting buckets of the wheel without 



1 82 Pumping for Irrigation. 

interference with the motion of the arms. The current of water 
in the channel underneath forces the buckets down stream, the 
latter delivering in the opposite direction at the top. By using 
a double set of boxes, one at each end of each bucket, the water 
may be delivered oil both sides simultaneously. A little experi- 
menting will indicate the proper size of the boxes, which de- 
pends upon the velocity and volume of water in the channel as 
well as the amount to be delivered. 

At the Fancher Creek Nursery, in Fresno County, a wheel 
is used eighteen feet in diameter, and carries sixteen buckets, 
which empty into a trough sixteen feet above the ditch. The 
wheel lifts about one cubic foot in two seconds. 

PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION. 

The year 1898 will be ever memorable for the general 
awakening of Californians not only to the desirability of an 
irrigation supply even in regions which had hitherto depended 
upon rainfall, but to the fact that pumping is feasible and profit- 
able. Thousands of growers began tO' realize that their orchard 
soil is merely the cover of an apparently inexhaustible reservoir. 
Others satisfied themselves that supplies from adjacent streams 
can be very cheaply thrown to elevations from which the water 
would flow over their lands. The use of the pump is only just 
beginning in California, though we have had for years as good 
and capacious pumping machinery in use as the world can show. 
The capacity of pumps, their ease and cheapness of operation 
in this land of oil wells, and of ponderous waterfalls whose power 
can be transformed into electric energ:v, warrant the conclusion 
that in many places water can be lifted from below more 
cheaply than it can be brought long distance's by ditch; and 
that the supply is more constant and subject to the users' com- 
mand and convenience. In all parts of the State well-boring 
and digging and pump construction is proceeding at a rate 
beyond any parallel in the history of California. Pumping 
plants of all capacities, from the greatest of the gasoline class, 
lifting five thousand gallons per minute from a depth of twenty- 
iive feet, down to the plant with a throw of three hundred gal- 
lons per minute, all styles of motors and pumps are being con- 
stantly multiplied. These plants are being placed upon wells in 
the orchard or in the vicinity, or upon adjacent streams, or are 
being mounted upon barges so as to do custom pumping for 
many orchards. Many n- w de igns by California inventors 
are coming into use. It would require a volume tO' contain 
any adequate account of California's recent progress in these 
lines. Economic pumping is governed by so many consid- 
erations that no general statement would be conclusive in any 



Cost of Pumping Water. 183 

specific case. Each orchardist must ascertain his own condi- 
tions and then confer with trustworthy manufacturers or their 
agents as to wiiat will meet his requirements. 

As a surety of the general proposition that pumping is fea- 
sible and profitable even from deep wells, reference can be made 
to the Santa Clara Valley, where the most numerous recent in- 
vestments in pumping outfits have been made: — 

There are about 1,500 irrigating plants of all kinds in this valley 
proper. About 900 of them have been put in during the past three years. 
Many of them are centrifugal pumps run by steam. These are the larger 
plants, where from 15 to 40 H. P., and in some few instances a larger H. P., 
are used, and the size of the pumps range from 4 inches to 12 inches. 
Most of the smaller plants are run by gasoline, though several use crude oil, 
and many of these are also centrifugal. Some of these are deep-well 
pumps, and they are very satisfactory in raising water from a greater depth 
than 100 feet. From 100 to 400 or 500 feet they work admirably. 

The cost of pumping differs materially in the different kinds of power, 
sizes of pumps and depth of wells. Figuring from what may be a safe 
average of the actual cost of fuel, a No. 4 pump, centrifugal, with gasoline 
as power, at 70 feet depth, would cost I3.00 per day. This would result in 
600 gallons per minute, 36,000 gallons per hour, or 360,000 gallons per day 
often hours. Such a stream of water is calculated to irrigate about 5 acres 
per day — equivalent to a little more than 2% inches of rain. But these fig- 
ures being of the best experiments, a better and safer estimate would prob- 
ably be 4 acres per day or an equivalent of about 2 inches of rain. 

But, generally speaking, it is safe to say that at a cost of about I300 
per acre for the water the orchards of Santa Clara County can, under the 
present process, be irrigated, two or three times, at |6.oo to jfg.oo per 
acre per year. The average cost of plant is about |i,2oo.* 

These calculations are chosen because they represent aver- 
age conditions and include a large number of small plants. 
There are many cases citable in which pumping plants of great 
capacity with small lifts are supplying the amount of water indi- 
cated at even o'ne-third of the cost mentioned. But plants of 
such capacity require considerable investments and should be 
submitted to competent experts for estimates of cost and efifi- 
ciency. 

THE miners' inch. 

There is a slight difference in the miners' inch in some of 
the different mining districts, but for irrigation purposes usually 
the measurement is as described by section 1415 of the Civil 
Code, which specifies a miners' inch in this State as that quan- 
tity of water which will flow through an opening of one square 
inch in the bottom or side of a vessel, under a pressure of four 
inches above the opening. Fifty of these miners' inches are 
equal to a discharge of one cubic foot of water per second, which 
is called a "second-foot," of which one miners' inch is the fiftieth 
part. 

* C. M. Wooster, of San Jose. 



184 The Miners' Inch. 

To get the number of gallons in miners' inches, multiply the given 
number of inches by 14.961, pointing off five decimals. The result will be 
the number of gallons discharged per second. 

To get the miners' inch in gallons, divide the number of gallons flow, 
or discharge per minute, by 8.9766. The result will be the number of 
inches sought. 

One miners' inch in gallons per second is 0.1496 

Per minute 8.976 

Per hour 538-56 

Per day 12925.44 

Per month 293,418 

Per year 4,721,017 

This will cover an acre over fourteen feet deep in a year, and cover ten 
acres about eighteen inches deep ; or would give to ten acres six irrigations 
of three inches each. 

It may be stated, however, that the extreme service claimed 
for water is from eiglit to ten acres of trees and vines or five to 
six acres of small fruits per miners' inch — meaning the amount 
of one inch running constantly, but to be handled in multiplied 
inches applied at intervals. 

RANDOM SUGGESTIONS. 

Without attempting an impossible thing, to wit, to furnish 
explicit directions for the practise of irrigation, for much of it 
every man must learn for himself by experience, a few sugges- 
tions may be noted, even though more important ones do not 
come to mind: — 

Usually water should be prevented from actual contact with 
the trunk of the tree. Citrus trees are especially sensitive to 
such contact, and resent it by "gum disease," which was for- 
merly far more prevalent in the State than now. Care must, 
therefore, be taken not to set trees which are to be irrigated, 
too low. It is better to raise them up a little and draw the earth 
up around them to prevent approach of the water. 

If possible, the ditch should run on the shady side of the 
tree, because reflected sunshine from the water surface may burn 
the bark. 

In examining soil to ascertain dryness, one must dig deeply, 
for often an upper layer will be fairly moist, if well cultivated, 
while lower layers, where the feeding rootlets are, will be arid. 
Therefore, when trees or vines are suffering, dig far down in 
examining the soil. 

In irrigating, thorough, deep soaking is necessary, and ex- 
amination must be made to see if an artificial hard-pan which 
prevents the descent of the water has been formed. 

Be careful not to continue irrigation too late in the season. 
It will prevent the proper dormancy of deciduous trees, and if 
more fall irrigation is given citrus trees than they need for per- 
fecting the fruit, the trees will continue growing tender shoots 



Sub-irrigatio7i in California. 185 

until they are injured by severe frosts. On the other hand, it is 
often desirable to give deciduous trees a draft of water after the 
fruit has been gathered, if the soil is so dry that the tree is 
Hkely to drop its leaves too soon, and wake from its dormancy 
with the first rains. Many times the fall blooming of deciduous 
trees, which is very undesirable, may be prevented by keeping 
them growing later in the summer by moderate irrigation. 

If trees or vines, in regions usually irrigated, are to be 
grown without irrigation, it is important that the grower be 
more than usually thorough and constant with his summer cul- 
tivation. In trying the non-irrigation experiment, one should, 
of course, begin with young trees which have not been irrigated, 
and not usually expect success by withdrawing the water from 
trees which have been accustomed to it, and have developed a 
root system accordingly. 

SUB-IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA. 

The word "sub-irrigated" is freely used in California to de- 
scribe land which is moistened below by underflow or seepage 
from streams or springs, or from open irrigation ditches, trav- 
ersing higher levels. This land is sub-irrigated, it is true, but 
there is no system about it, except the natural distribution of 
water, which is disposed to run down hill. Some of our most 
productive lands are of this character, and where the soil and 
subsoil are fitted to the movement of this living water, and not apt 
to retain it up to the point of saturation, most satisfactory growth 
of deep-rooting field crops and of trees and vines are secured. 
But this is not sub-irrigation in the ordinary signification of the 
term. 

Several systems of sub- irrigation have been devised by Cali- 
fornia inventors, but none have passed beyond the experimental 
stage, and no considerable acreage is yet in place. 

DRAINAGE IN CALIFORNIA. 

There was for a long time a very erroneous popular gen- 
eralization that California soils do not need drainage; that in a 
dry State the aim should be to retain the moisture, not to part 
with it. It is, of course, true that we have vast areas of natu- 
rally well-drained soil, upon which any money spent for drain- 
age would be in great part thrown away, but we have, also, 
both in the valley and on the hillsides, localities where, by pecul- 
iar character and conformation of the subsoil, water is held in 
the soil until evaporated from the surface, and the result is a 
boggy, miry condition, which prevents proper winter cultivation, 
and at the same time injures the roots of the trees or vines. This 
defective cuUivation, added to the puddling effect of standing 

13 



1 86 Drainage and Irrigation. 

w^ter. makes the soil dry out completely under the fervid sun 
(jf summer, and the result is that the wettest soil of the winter 
is the driest in the summer, and plants which are injured by 
soaking in winter suffer again from lack of moisture and sus- 
tenance in summer. Thus it is a fact, clearly proven by obser- 
vation and experience, that thorough under-drainage removes 
surplus water in winter, and ministers to the retention of mois- 
ture in summer. JMore than this, a soil puddled by standing 
water can not present its contents in available form for plant nu- 
trition, and besides, it loses the fertilizing effects of atmospheric 
currents, which freely pass through an open, well-drained soil. 
Wet land is cold and late in spring, and hot as a baked brick 
under the summer sun; it is no fiction of the imagination to 
say that well-drained land is warm in winter and cool in sum- 
mer — that is, cool to a degree which favors quick and free root 
growth, and cool enough to escape the parching effect of deeply- 
baked soil. 

These, and a host of similar considerations, which have 
made under-drainage popular in older countries, are of weight 
in California. Possibly, as a rule, because of our vast area of 
deep, kind loams, the proportion of land needing drainage in 
this State is less than elsewhere, and yet there is a vast extent 
of country to be improved by tiling. During the last few years 
there have been large losses of trees from planting upon soils 
defective in this respect. The evil has resulted from excessive 
rainfall and excessive irrigation, either direct or by underflow 
fro-m adjacent irrigations. In some places this latter movement 
of water has brought alkali to assist in the ruin of the trees and 
vines. The cure is drainage to sutftcient depth and with good 
outlet for the drainage water. 

Information on the construction of under-drains is too avail- 
able through other sources to call for its presentation in this 
connection. 

Drainage and Irrigation. — A special importance attaches to 
complete and systematic drainage in connection with irrigation. 
There is pressing need of such provision where the soil has be- 
come overloaded by seepage water from irrigation ditches, and 
it is well that people in such situations are waking up to the 
need of coupling drainage outlets with their irrigation inlets. 
Another matter closely allied to this is the action of alkali on 
soils thus artificially water soaked. This has been made the 
subject of a special publication by Professor Hilgard, to which 
allusion has already been made. Drainage is plainly essential, 
both in individual farms and in districts where the water level 
is rising too high, and the striking statements given in Professor 
Hilgard's report will incite all to insist that immediate attention 
be given to the needs of the State in this regard. 



PART THIRD: ORCHARD FRUITS. 



CHAPTER XVI, 
THE APPLE. 



During the last decade notable progress has been made in 
apple growing in California. The old idea that our conditions 
did not favor excellence in an apple has given way to full assur- 
ance that in wisely selected elevations and exposures the very 
highest points of size, beauty, flavor, keeping and shipping qual- 
ities are secured. Even before the wonderfully satisfactory test 
of both northern and southern California appks at the New Or- 
leans World's Fair, it was clear that the right variety grown in 
the right place yields an apple in California than which a better 
can not be grown anywhere, and during the last five years Cali- 
fornia early apples have been in sharp request for shipment to 
all regions of the northwest and British Columbia, and Cali- 
fornia winter apples have been sold at the highest prices east of 
the Rocky Mountains and in Europe. Shipments beyond State 
lines of above seven hundred car-loads in 1898 testify to these 
facts. 

Localities for the Apple. — Speaking generally, it may be laid 
down that the great valleys of the interior are not well suited 
to the apple. In the early regions of the Sacramento Valley 
and foot-hills, however, excellent early apples are profitably pro- 
duced. In the great valley and lower foot-hill region of the State, 
the late apple usually lacks character and keeping quality. On 
the great plains the tree is liable to sunburn, or sun blight, as it is 
called. Some varieties, because of the character of their foliage, 
are less liable to this injury than others, and it is possible that 
this evil may be finally overcome by the selection of varieties 
with blight-proof foliage, as will be mentioned later. In the 
great valley, however, on the rich rivc-boitom land of the Sacra- 
mento and the San Joaqtn'n and its tributaries, the apple roots 
deeply, attains good size, bears good fruit, with fair keeping 
quality, while but a few miles away on the plains it would be 
inferior. 

( 187 ) 



1 88 Localities for the Apple. 

In the interior the region of adaptation to the apple hes at 
an elevation on the foot-hills on both the east and west rims of 
the great valley. Its limits are not well defined, but there are 
flourishing orchards at an elevation of about four thousand five 
hundred feet on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
and from two thousand to three thousand five hundred feet is 
commonly regarded the best apple region of the mountains. 
The trees attain large size and bear heavily, and the fruit, of 
well-adapted varieties, is large, crisp, and juicy, and has excep- 
tional keeping qualities. 

Along the coast the apple succeeds well from end to end of 
the State, and very close to the ocean excellent fruit is produced 
on good soil. There is a certain advantage in elevation in the 
coast region as well as in the interior, but the advantage is not 
so marked nor is the required elevation so great. Coast valleys 
in the central and upper portion of the State, where the soil is 
suitable, produce most excellent apples, but even here the lower 
hillsides, with deep, well-drained soils, are, perhaps, preferable 
to the floors of the valley. Departing from immediate coait in- 
fluences and approaching the interior, with its greater heat and 
aridity, the greater elevation becomes desirable. The apple, ex- 
cepting the very early varieties, does not relish the forcing heat 
which brings such perfection to the peach, but to insure late 
ripening and long keeping, with accompanying crispness, juici- 
ness, and flavor, it must have atmospheric surroundings which 
favor slower development. 

Localities for apple growing in southern California are to 
be chosen with much the same rules as in the upper parts of the 
State. As has already been said, valleys in which coast condi- 
tions largely predominate produce good apples on suitable soils, 
but away from the coast proper, elevations must be sought, and 
they should be above the so-called thermal or frostless belts. 
Good apples are grown on low lands near the coast in Los An- 
geles and Orange Counties. Sixty miles inland, in San Ber- 
nardino County, winter apples fail in the valleys, but are most 
excellent at a sui^cient elevation upon the slopes of the sur- 
roimding mountains or in elevated valleys like the Yucaipe Val- 
ley above Redlands. In the elevated interior of San Diego 
County, as in the Julian and Smith Mountain districts, excellent 
apples are produced in large quantities and profitably carried 
long distances. 

Second and Third-Crop Apples. — There is a peculiar be- 
havior of the apple tree, most noticeable where winter temper- 
ature is mildest, and that is blooming and fruiting out of season. 
In the case of early apples the second bloom may appear about 
the time the first fruit ripens and the third bloom when the sec- 



Exposures and Soils for the Apple. 189 

ond crop is half grown. Even such behavior may be folloAved 
by regular blooming the following spring. Second crops of 
apples are not of amount nor regularity enough to be of much 
economic importance, as the second crops of pears and grapes 
sometimes are. The third crop occasionally ripens. 

Exposures for the Apple. — Jlie choice of exposure for an 
apple orchard may almost be inferred from what has been said 
about localities. In regions with high summer temperature the 
apple will do best on cool, northerly slopes, and this exposure 
becomes doubly desirable when the location has high temper- 
ature with only moderate annual rainfall, or where the soil is 
not well adapted to the retention of moisture. With such pre- 
vailing conditions, the apple will be grateful for the cooler air 
and the greater moisture of the northerly slope. Where the 
temperature is moderately cool, and the rainfall adequate, the 
matter of exposure is of less account, and the grower can make 
the existence of the best soil the test of location of his orchard. 
At elevations on the sides of high ranges where late cold storms 
are liable to rush down from higher snow fields, protection from 
the usual course of such storms, or from the course of cold 
winds generally, must be sought; and directly upon the coast, 
especially in the northern part of the State, in certain places 
where the peach does not usually succeed, even the apple may 
need protection, and the benefit of all heat available, and then a 
southerly or southeasterly exposure becomes desirable. The 
choice of exposure is thus seen to be largely a local question 
and to be determined by a knowledge of local conditions. A 
newcomer in a region can best learn these conditions by con- 
ference with older residents, or by personal observation of older 
orchards. 

Soils for the Apple. — Experience with ,the apple in Califor- 
nia confirms what has long been set forth as its choice of soils 
in older regions. If one avoid an extremely light, sandy soil 
on the one hand, and a very stiff clay or adobe on the other, he 
may plant apples on almost any soil which allows extension of 
the roots to a considerable depth without reaching standfng 
water. The apple thrives in a moist soil, but it must be well 
drained, naturally or otherwise. A soil which may be called 
best for the apple is a deep, rich, moist, calcareous loam, but the 
tree will thrive on coarser materials. The subsoil, whatever its 
nature, must be sound and open to the passage of moisture. 
The most unfavorable condition for the tree is a subsoil of clay 
which holds water. There is some difference in varieties as to 
choice of soil. The Yellow Bellflower, for instance, will do well, 
on a lighter soil than the Yellow Newtown Pippin. 



190 Growth of the Apple. 

PLANTING AND CARE OF THE APPLE ORCHARD. 

The chapters on propagation, planting, and pruning con- 
tain suggestions to which the reader is referred. Care should 
be taken to obtain trees with clean, healthy roots, not knotted 
and scarred by woolly aphis. 

Distance in Planting. — The distance between the trees is of 
the highest importance. All the old apple orchards are over- 
crowded. More recently trees have been set at greater dis- 
tances, and such planting is now generally advised. There is 
some difiference of opinion as to proper distance, but certainly 
twenty-five to thirty feet is near enough, and some of the best 
new orchards have been planted at forty feet, the ground being 
used for a time with other crops or planted with early bearing 
trees, for which the soil is suited, between them. 

Pruning the Apple. — The manner of shaping fruit trees de- 
scribed in the chapter on pruning succeeds admirably with the 
apple. Yearling trees are usually planted, and they are regu- 
larly primed until proper form is secured. After coming into 
bearing there must be intelligent pruning according to the 
growth-habit of the variety. Some varieties, like the Yellow 
Bellflower, resent heavy pruning after coming into bearing, and 
slow growers, like the Yellow Newtown Pippin, do not need il. 
On the other hand varieties, like the Winesap and Smith's Cider, 
are apt to make long slim branches and bear at the ends. This 
can be corrected by cutting back to secure more short shoots 
which will bear better fruit. The grower must study his vari- 
eties not only with reference to this but in forming the tree, cut- 
ting to an inside bud all varieties which naturally take a hori- 
zontal direction, and cutting to an outside bud varieties which 
have a tendency to send up tall, straight shoots. By thus throw- 
ing the new growth upward in the first case, and outward in the 
second, one can shape each kind to greater symmetry and 
strength for fruit carrying, and bring up all spreading varieties 
to a form which admits near approach of the plow and cultivator. 
This manner of shaping the tree must continue as long as seems 
necessary to secure a tree which will come to bearing age shapely 
and strong, and within reach. 

Bearing trees should not be allowed to carry toO' many 
branches, and pruning will largely consist of thinning out sur- 
plus shoots and removing interference between branches. It is 
not desirable to shorten-in the apple as is done with the apricot 
and peach. 

In regions of the most intense summer heat, less pruning 
is admissible than in the coast and elevated regions. It is nec- 
essary that the foliage be dense '10 protect the tree and the fruit 
from sunburn. Nor does the tree seem to relish cutting back. 



Ati Apple Storage House. 191 

Slight thinning" out, it the tiee becomes too brush}", seems to be 
the best treatment in some of the hot valleys. 

Thinning the Fruit. — One of the most important items in 
the handling- of an apple orchard is the faithful thinning- out 
of the fruit of all varieties which are prone to overbear. Al- 
though this work is tedious and expensive, it is profitable, because 
of the improved price which can be had for the larger fruit 
which will be secured, and it is desirable in the effects of thin- 
ning on the tree. It will be relieved from the exhaustion of 
overbearing, induced to yield annual crops, and often saved from 
breaking down with a too heavy burden. 

GATHERING AND STORING APPLES. 

The disposition in this State, as elsewhere, is to allow the 
fruit to hang too long upon the tree before gathering. It was 
long ago demonstrated that an apple for long-keeping must be 
picked early. As late fall weather in Cali'"oTnia is so delightful, 
there is more temptation to delay the picking than where the 
approach of winter admonishes the grower to get his fruit under 
cover. Picking apples for shipment should be done just when 
the seeds begin to blacken and when the fruit yields to pressure. 
If left on until fully ripe, and the seeds all black, the fruit will 
not keep. . This rule applies to fall apples for shipment to distant 
markets, or for apples to be stored at home. 

Nearly all the ways of keeping winter apples have been 
tried in California. It has been found by experience that apples 
keep perfectly tmtil late in the spring by piling under the trees 
and covering with leaves, etc.. allowing the rains to fall upon 
them. When dry north winds blow, the fruit should be sprinkled 
occasionally. They come out from the cover fresh, smooth, and 
plump, and for family use such rough storage will often answer 
a good purpose. For commercial storage, however, good fruit- 
houses are used. The requisites of such houses are an evenly 
cool temperature, moist air, and good ventilation, the fruit being 
open to free access of the air. 

Mr. Edward Berwick, of Monterey, a leading apple grower 
of the coast region, handles his fruit in this way: — 

The apples are carefully hand-picked into baskets and at once trans- 
ferred to ordinary apple boxes— just put in loose, not packed ti,a:ht as for 
shipping. These boxes are hauled to the fruit house with as little jar as 
possible. 

This fruit house is built of rough boards (fastened on a heavy frame) 
with inch-thick battens covering the cracks, and rustic-nailed outside the 
battens, thus leaving an inch air-space between the boards and the rustic. 
It is of two stories — the upper devoted to tools and stores, the lower used 
for fruit, and arranged with shelves accordingly. This lower story has only 
an earthen floor. One object of this is to give no lodgment for rats or mice, 
the other is to serve as a means of maintaining a cool, damp atmosphere. 



192 Apple House for Soidherji Coast. 

To this end it is kept well watered in apple-keeping season; and, to avoid 
mildew or mold, it is also liberally sprinkled with ground sulphur. By day 
doors and windows are mostly kept shut, by night open; this, of course, is 
to exclude the heat and allow free circulation of the cool night air. 

A rather more open house is used in the coast region of 
southern Cahfornia, by Mr. T, W. Ward, of Carpinteria: — 

It is a slat house made of strips ix2>^ inches, put on one inch apart. 
The roof is similarly constructed. There are two passages, on either side of 
which are two shelves, one above the other, /. e., eight in all. The shelves 
are made of slats placed one-half inch apart, with sides a foot high. The 
apples are spread on these shelves a foot or more deep. The floor is made 
of slats, and there are bins on this also. The fruit must receive a thorough 
sprinkling weekly, unless sufficient rain falls. The slats are close enough to 
prevent birds doing damage, and the whole building is raised six inches 
from the ground. 

In the mountain regions arrangements must be made for 
frost-exchision, — a consideration which does not apply to the 
valley and coast. 

Of course, in selecting apples for storage, all windfalls 
should be rejected. The fruit should be carefully picked and 
handled, without bruising. The advantage of spreading on 
shelves, aside from the free admission of air, is the ease with 
which the fruit can be examined and all decaying specimens 
removed. 

Marketing Apples. — With well-grown fruit, from an orchard 
free from insects, or one in which they are absolutely repressed, 
and the apples properly stored for winter and spring sale, there 
is a rich reward for the apple grower. The market is free from 
everything but late pears and citrus fruits, and they cannot re- 
place the apple in popular esteem. Let the fruit be carefully 
selected and graded into firsts and seconds as to size, and let 
the brand get the reputation of covering nothing but sound 
fruit of honest uniformity throughout the package, and in the 
long run the apple grower will not be ashamed to compare his 
returns with those of the grower of other fruits — providing, as 
already intimated, he is growing the right varieties in the right 
place. 

SELECTING VARIETIES. 

For the family orchard there should he a selection of quite 
a number of varieties, ripening in succession, from the earliest 
to the latest. Which are best in the different parts of the State 
can be approximately determined from the tabular statement 
which will follow, and which has been compiled from special 
reports of hundreds of apple growers during 1898. 

The selection of varieties for a commercial orchard is a 
very different proposition. Only a few kinds should be chosen, 
with special reference to their growth and bearing, and the mar- 
kets for which they are intended. 



Apples for Various Places. 193 

Summer and Fall Apples. — In some regions noted for early 
maturnig of fruit, it is profitable to grow early apples, providing 
there are facilities for reaching profitable avenues of trade. Ex- 
cept to minister to some special local or distant trade which can 
be thus foreseen, it must be said that early summer and fall 
apples are hardly worth the attention ol the commercial planter. 
These sorts are apt to come into direct contest with the magnifi- 
cent peaches, grapes, and other summer and autumn fruits, and 
suffer thereby. 

Winter Apples. — For large ventures in apple growing, in 
localities carefully chosen for especial adaptations, a few of the 
finest varieties of winter apples should be selected. These, a.' 
reported from the difi:erent counties, can be learned from the 
table. It is the judgment of the most experienced apple 
growers, many of whom have old orchards including many vari- 
eties, that new plantations of winter apples should contain only 
about six sorts. Of these, in all parts of the State, three would 
be the Yellow Newtown Pippin, White Winter Pearmain, and 
Yellow Bellflower; the other half of the half dozen would be 
differently made up in different parts of the State, as can be 
learned from the table which will follow. 

Apples for Long Shipmoit. — There has been for years quite 
an important trade in shipment of California apples to various 
ports in the South Pacific Ocean, and recently there has been 
a sharp demand for California apples for shipment to the east- 
ern States and England. The characteristic size, quality, and 
keeping of the fruit, together with the size and style of package, 
have strongly commended the fruit. The center of this trade 
(1899) is Watsonville, in a coast valley, in the central part of the 
State. The two apples which are most popular are the Yellow 
Bellflower and the Yellow Newtown Pippin. It is an interest- 
ing fact that these varieties by virtue of quality have overcome 
the popular fervor for a red apple. 

For the Interior Valleys. — In choosing varieties for the hot 
valleys of the State those making a heavy leaf growth are to be 
preferred. The Spitzenburg, for example, is a failure in the val- 
leys of the interior. From experience already had it seems 
likely that some of the Russian varieties, with thick, large leaves, 
will prove best for such situations. The behavior of the x\stra- 
cans, the Duchess of Oldenburg, and others of Russian origin, 
are illustrations of this fact. Other varieties have been on trial 
for several years, but no great distribution of them has yet been 
attained. 

VARIETIES CHIEFLY GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

Of the hundreds of varieties of apples tested in California, 
comparatively few are now grown, as has already been suggested. 



194 Apples Chiefly Grown in California. 

Those named below have been reported by growers as succeed- 
ing in the localities named with the description, or indicated in 
the table which will follow. The descriptions of the standard 
sorts are, in the main, condensed from Downing,* with local 
notes interpolated when thought necessary. The arrangement 
is, approximately, in the order of ripening. 

Carolina Red June (Southern). — Medium size, oval, irregular, inclined 
to conic; deep red covered with light bloom; stalk in small cavity; calyx 
closed; flesh white, tender, juicy, subacid; core rather large. 

Early //arz/^j-/ (American). — Medium size, roundish; straw color, with 
i&w faint white dots; stalk half to three-fourths inch, slender, set in mod- 
erate cavity; calyx in shallow basin; flesh very white, tender, crisp, pleas- 
ant. 

Early Straivberry (New York). — Medium size, roundish, narrowing 
towards the eye; skin smooth, deep red on yellow ground; stalk one and a 
half inches, rather slender and uneven, in deep cavity; calyx small, in 
shallow basin; flesh white, tinged with red next the skin, tender, subacid, 
sprightly. 

Red Aslracan (Russian). — Large, roundish; skin deep red, save green- 
ish yellow in the shade; pale white bloom; stalk short, and deeply inserted; 
calyx partially closed and set in slight basin; flesh white, juicy and crisp, 
pleasant acid; tree hardy and vigorous, and an early bearer. The main 
reliance in California for an early apple. 

White Aslracan (Russian). — Large, roundish; skin smooth and nearly 
white, with faint streaks of red, and covered with white bloom; flesh white. 
Considerably grown in the Sacramento Valley for early shipment. 

Duchess of Oldenburg (Russian). — Large, roundish, oblate; yellow, 
streaked with red; calyx large, nearly closed, set in wide, even hollow; 
flesh juicy, subacid. 

Gravenstein (German). — Large, rather flattened; a little one-sided or 
angular; broadest at base; stalk short, strong, deeply set; calyx large, 
closed, in a large basin; skin yellow, freely marked with light and deep red 
and orange; flesh tender, crisp, high-flavored, aromatic; a strong-growing 
and heavily-bearing tree; a standard fall apple in this State. 

Red Bieligheimer (German). — Large to very large, oblate, slightly 
conical, regular; smooth, whitish, or yellowish white, shaded with light and 
dark red, and purplish crimson in the sun; stalk short, rather stout; calyx 
closed in large, deep, slightly corrugated basin; flesh white, firm, juicy, 
brisk subaci4- 

Maiden' s Blush (New Jersey). — Rather large, smooth, regular; yellow, 
with evenly shaded red cfieek; stalk short, in rather wide, deep hollow; 
calyx closed in moderate depression; flesh white, tender, sprightly. 

Fall Pippiri. — Very large, roundish, a little flattened; stalk three-fourths 
inch, projecting considerably beyond the fruit (which distinguishes it from 
the Holland Pippin); calyx open, not very large, rather deeply sunk in 
round, narrow basin; skin smooth, yellowish green, becoming pure yellow; 
brownish blush and few scattered dots; flesh white, tender, mellow, rich, 
aromatic. 

Alexander (Ru-sian) — Very large, showy, conical, greenish yellow, 
streaked with red in shade, bright red in the sun; calyx large, in deep 
basin; stalk slender, long, in deep cavity; flesh yellowish white, crisp, ten- 
der, and juicy. Tree vigorous, but not always a eood bearer. 

Tiventy-Ounce; syn. Cayuga Red Streak (New York). — Very large, 
roundish, slightly uneven; greenish yellow, boldly splashed and marbled 



* " Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees of America," John Wiley & Sons, New York. 



Apples Chiefly Grown in California. 195 

with purplish red; stalk short, in wide, deep cavity; calyx small; flesh 
rather coarse, but brisk, sprightly, subacid flavor. 

Gloria Miindi. — Very large, roundish, oblate; ribbed; greenish yellow. 
A popular show apple on account of great size attained in this State. (See 
table.) 

Fanieuse; syn. Snow Apple (Canada). — Medium size, roundish, some- 
what flattened; deep crimson, nearly concealing pale yellowish ground; 
flesh snowy white, tender, juicy, slight perfume; stalk slender, one-half 
inch, in narrow, funnel-shaped cavity; calyx small, in shallow, rather nar- 
row basin; "tree vigorous, with dark wood; one of the finest dessert fruits; 
succeeds particularly well in the foot-hills." — Jolin Bidivell. 

King of Tompkins County. — Large, globular, angular, inclining to 
conic; yellowish, mostly shaded with red, striped and splashed with crim- 
son; stalk shoit and stout, in large, somewhat irregular cavity; calyx small, 
closed; flesh yellowish, rich, juicy, vinous, aromatic, chiefly grown in moun- 
tain regions. 

Rambo (Pennsylvania). — Medium to large, flat; yellowish white with 
pale yellow and red in the sun, with large, rough dots; stalk long, rather 
slender, curved, deeply set; calyx closed, in broad basin; flesh greenish 
white. Reported a failure in some counties. 

Beti Davis — Large, roundish, sides often unequal; light red and deep 
red on yellowish ground; stalk medium, rather slender, in deep, narrow 
cavity; calyx partially open. Commended as a market apple by the South- 
ern California Nurservmen's Association. 

Baldwin (Massachusetts). — Large, roundish, narrowing a little towards 
the eye; deep bright red over a yellow ground; few russet dots; calyx 
closed and set in narrow basin; stalk one-half to three-fourths inch, rather 
slender, set in deep, even cavity; flesh yellowish white, crisp, juicy, sub- 
acid. Best in northern and elevated regions; coloring varies greatly 
according to locality. 

Hoover (South Carolina) — Large, roundish, slightly oblique; yellow- 
ish, mostly overspread witn red, with conspicuous light dots; stalk rather 
long, in large cavity; calyx open in furrowed basin; flesh yellowish, juicy, 
crisp, acid. 

Rhode Island Greening. — Large, roundish, a little flattened, pretty 
regular; dark green, becoming yellowish green; calyx small, woolly, closed, 
in shallow basin; stalk three-fourths inch, curved, thickest at the bottom; 
flesh yellow, fine grained, tender, crisp, juicy, aromatic, slightly acid; tree 
healthy and the variety widely popular. 

Vaftdevere; syn. Newton Spitzenburg.^M.Qd\um size, oblate, slightly 
conic; fine yellow, washed with light red, striped and splashed with dark 
red, and shaded with carmine in the sun; light bloom and peculiar gray 
specks; stalk short, in wide cavity; calyx small, closed; flesh yellow, rich, 
sprightly, vinous. 

Jonathan (New York). — Medium to large, roundish, conical or tapering 
to the eye; light yellow nearly covered with red stripes and deep red in the 
sun; stalk three-fourths of an inch, rather slender, in deep, regular cavity; 
calyx in deep, broad basin; tender, juicy, rich, vinous; a great favorite in 
California; specially commended as a market apple by Southern California 
Nurserymen's Association; keeps till midwinter. 

Winesap. — Medium size, roundish oblong; dark red with traces of 
yellow in the shade; stalk nearly an inch, slender, set in an irregular cavity; 
calyx small, in regular basin; flesh yellow, crisp, high, rich flavor; largely 
grown; tree a good bearer. 

Ortley; syn. White Bellflower, etc. (New Jersey). — Large, oblong, 
greenish yellow, becoming fine yellow with slight blush; stalk medium, 
slender, set in deep, acute cavity; calyx closed, set it abrupt, corrugated 
basin; flesh white, fine-grained, juicy, subacid. 



196 Apples Chiefly Grown in California. 

Szvaar (New York).— Large, roundish; golden yellow with numerous 
brown specks; stalk slender, three-fourths inch, in very round cavity; calyx 
small, greenish, set in shalli w basin; flesh yellowish, fine-grained; very 
rich, aromatic flavor and spicy smell. 

Lawyer. — Large, roundish, oblate, dark red, covered with small dots; 
stalk medium, cavity deep, regular; calyx small, closed, in medium 
furrowed basin; flesh white, sprightly, aromatic; a promising, late keeping 
variety. 

Yellow Bellflower (New Jersey). — Very large, oblong, irregular, taper- 
ing toward the eye; smooth; lemon color, with blush; stalk long and slender, 
in deep cavity; calyx closed, in rather narrow basin; flesh tender, juicy, 
crisp, with sprightly, subacid flavor; keeps well into the winter; tree a 
strong grower and healthy; one of the universal favorites in California. 

Romanite. — Small to medium, roundish conical, truncated; yellow, 
mostly covered with clear, handsome red; indistinct light dots; stalk 
slender; calyx in an abrupt basin; flesh yellowish, fine-grained, juicy, 
pleasant, subacid. 

Esopus Spitzenburg (New York). — Large, oblong, tapering roundly to 
the eye; smooth, nearly covered with rich, lively red, dotted with distinct 
yellowish russet dots; on shaded side, yellowish ground with streaks and 
broken stripes of red; stalk rather long, three-fourths inch, slender, pro- 
jecting beyond the base and inserted in wide cavity; calyx small and closed, 
in shallow basin; flesh yellow, rather firm, crisp, juicy, with a delicious rich, 
brisk flavor. A largely grown variety; tree a good, upright grower and 
healthy; fruit keeps fairly. 

Smith" s Cider (Pennsylvania). — Large, roundish, oblate conic; yellow, 
shaded and striped with red, sparsely covered with gray dots; stalk slender, 
in deep, rather narrow cavity; calyx closed, in broad, shallow basin; flesh 
whitish, juicy, crisp, acid; tree a strong grower, and fruit keeps till mid- 
winter. 

Rome Beauty (Ohio). — Large, roundish, approaching conic; yellow, 
shaded and striped with bright red, sprinkled with light dots; stalk one 
inch, in large, deep cavity; calyx partially closed, in deep, narrow basin; 
flesh yellowish, juicy, sprightly; fruit keeps late. 

Missouri Pippin (Missouri). — Large, roundish oblate, slightly oblique, 
somewhat flattened at the ends; shaded, striped and splashed with light and 
dark red, often quite dark in the sun; many large and small gray dots; stalk 
short, small; cavity large, deep; calyx closed or half open, basin rather ab- 
rupt deep, slightly corrugated; flesh whitish, rather coarse, moderately 
juicy, subacid. Quite largely planted, but losing favor for lack of keeping 
quality in coast valleys. 

Nickajack (North Carolina). — Large, roundish to roundish oblate, 
slightly conic, sometimes oblique; yellowish, freely striped and splashed 
with red, many large dots; stalk short, in large cavity; calyx partly open; 
flesh yellowish, fair quality; reported a shy bearer in high altitudes. 

Northern Spy (New York). — Large, roundish, oblate conical; pale 
yellow, purplish red stripes in the sun; stalk three-fourths inch, slender, in 
wide, deep cavity; calyx small, closed; flesh white, mild, pleasant; highly 
esteemed in a few localities, but abandoned in others for shy bearing. 

White Winter Pearmain. — Large, roundish oblong conic, somewhat 
oblique; pale yellow with slight blush, many minutebrown dots; stalk short, 
in deep cavity; calyx nearly closed; flesh yellowish, tender, crisp, juicy, 
very pleasant subacid, extra high flavor; grown everywhere, and fruit keeps 
late; tree a strong grower and healthy. 

Lady (French). — Small, regularly formed, flat; smooth and glossy, with 
brilliant red cheek contrasting with lemon yellow ground; flesh white, crisp, 
juicy and pleasant; chiefly used for ornamental purposes. 



California Seedling Apples. 197 

Rawles Janet (Virginia). — Medium to large, oblate conic; yellowish, 
shaded with red and striped with crimson; stalk short and thick, in broad, 
open cavity; calyx partially open, in shallow basin; flesh yellow, tender, 
juicy, pleasant vinous flavor; tree healthy and prolific. 

Stark. — Large, roundish, inclined to conic; sometimes elongated, 
sometimes oblique; greenish yellow, nearly covered with dark red and 
sprinkled with light and brown dots; stalk short, rather stout; calyx closed; 
flesh yellowish. 

Yellow Newtozvn Pippitt. — Large, roundish, oblate and oblique, more 
or less flattened; yellow with brownish red cheek; stalk very short; flesh 
firm, crisp, juicy, and with very rich, high flavor. Generally considered 
the best winter apple in California. 

CRAB APPLES. 

Hyslop. — Fruit large, growing in clusters; roundish ovate; dark rich red, 
covered with thick blue bloom; stalk long, slender; calyx closed; flesh 
yellowish. 

Large Red Siberiaii. — Roundish ovate with large and prominent calyx; 
pale red and yellow skin. 

Large Yellow Siberian. — Fruit similar in size to foregoing, roundish 
oval, flattened at base and crown; light clear yellow, inclining to amber, 
with warm cheek. 

Transcetidant. — Medium to large, roundish oval, flattened at the ends, 
slightly but regularly ribbed; golden yellow, with rich, crimson cheek, or 
nearly covered with red; delicate white bloom; stalk long and slender, in 
open, deep cavity; calyx closed; flesh creamy yellow. 

Montreal Beauty. — Large, roundish oblate; bright yellow, mostly 
covered and shaded with red; one of the most beautiful of crabs. 

Whitney'' s Crab. — Large, handsome, greenish yellow, striped with 
crimson. 

CALIFORNIA SEEDLING APPLES. 

Skinner's Seedling (Name approved by California State Horticultural 
Society, November, 1887). Syn. Skinner's Pippin, Santa Clara King. — 
Originated with Judge H. C. Skinner, on bank of Coyote, east of San Jose, 
and tree reported still standing in 1879. Recommended by B. S. Fox at 
convention of fruit growers held in San Francisco, September 8, 1859, and 
adopted for trial. Described by Committee of New Fruits, American 
Pomological Society, 1877 (p. 46), as follows: — 

"Sant^ Clara King: Fruit large to very large; form, oblate, conic, 
slightly mixed; color rich lemon yellow, faintly striped with bright red; 
flesh, yellowish white, very tender, juicy, sprightly, mild subacid; quality 
best. Season, September and October. This i- the best very large apple 
we have seen. Said to be a g od grower and productive." 

Recommended by Southern California Nurserymen's Association for 
family use. 

MarshalVs Red (Name approved by California State Horticultural 
Society, November, 1887). Syn. Red Bellflower. MarshalVs Seedling. — 
Originated with J. L. Marshall, Brown's Valley, near Napa, from seeds of 
Yellow Bellflower, the branches of which interlaced with those of a Red 
June tree, and the seedling is presumably a chance hybrid between these 
two varieties. Fruited first about 1877, and generally introduced by 
Leonard Coates in 1884. The tree resembles Red June in habit of growth; 
fruit large, same shape as Yellow Bellflower, but of same color as Red . 
June; quality very good; flesh firm and fine-grained; aromatic, and slightly 
more acid than the Yellow Bellflower; tree, a very heavy bearer, and the 
fruit ripens in October in the bay region. 



igS California Fruit Districts. 

Cook's Seeahng (Name approved by California State Horticultural 
Society, November, 1887). Syn. Sonoma Seedling .—^xoVi^\\\. to notice by 

0. B. Shaw, of Sonoma, who sent specimens to the Rural Press in January, 
1872. Described in that paper, January 27, as a seedling raised by David 
Cook from the seed of the Juneating. Above medium size, pale yellow 
striped with red, sharp acid flavor. Not decidedly rich, but flavor full and 
acceptable. Excellent keeping qualities. Especially popular in Sonoma 
and Napa Counties; reported unfavorably from Placer County. 

Tabular Slwzving of Adaptations. — In preparation for this 
edition the writer undertook special inquiry to secttre informa- 
tion from growers as to what their choice would be if they were 
to plant apples in 1899. Several hundred growers were con- 
sulted, and the results of this inquiry are herewith substituted 
for the tabulation used in earlier editions of this work. Old 
data were abandoned entirely. The rsult is a large shrinkage 
in the list of varieties which are now thought to be worth plant- 
ing in the different parts of the State: — 

An attempt has been made to district the State in accord- 
ance with the scheme of climatic divisions described in Chapter 

1. This groups regions of nearest resemblance, and is more 
rational than any prescription according to county lines can be, 
for thottgh some counties lie wholly in one climatic division, many 
more counties extend through two, and some even through three, 
such divisions. It is, therefore, a more promising proposition to 
encourage planters in any locality to study their climatic adapta- 
tions, not with regard to county lines but rather as they are re- 
lated to the conditions of elevation, exposure to ocean influ- 
ences and other factors which 'characterize natural belts, or areas, 
of similar horticultural fitness. The only instances in which 
these agencies are grouped geographically, is in constituting 
southern California a division by itself. This is a recognition of 
the fact that though in southern California coast and interior 
differences clearly exist, they are not so marked as they are ill 
the upper portions of the State, and there is consequently less 
marked contrast in suitability to various fruits. This concession 
to the south as sui generis also escapes, or answers instead of a 
third division of coast valleys, for the southern counties as a 
whole have a mollified or subdtied coast clim.ate, their region of 
strictly interior valley and foot-hill climate being restricted by 
the fact that practically almost all their ctiltivated area lies soutii 
and west of their high mountains. It is an interesting fact that 
the California coast climates north and south show much greater 
contrasting conditions than do the interior valley regions, north 
and south, and southern California being so largely in the coast 
class could on this basis of wide coast variations claim a distinct- 
ive designation, though it could hardly be granted on the com- 
parison of interior valley characters throughout the State. 



Apples for Different Districts. 
Apple Varieties Approved by California Growers. 



199 



Varieties. 



Northern 
Coast 
region. 



Central 
Coast 
regfion. 



Interior 

valleys 

aud 

foot-hills. 



Mountain 
valleys 

and 
plateaux. 



Southern 
California. 



Alexander 

Arkansas Black 

Baldwin 

Ben Davis 

Bietigheimer 

Cook's Seedling 

Early Harvest 

Early Strawberry 

Esopus Spitzenburg 

Fall Pippin 

Fameuse 

Gravenstein 

Hoover 

Jonathan 

Kaighn's Spitzenburg.. 

Lawver 

Maiden's Blush 

Marshall's Red 

Missouri Pippin 

Nickajack 

Northern Spy 

Oldenburg Duchess 

Ortley 

Rambo 

Rawles' Janet 

Red Astracan 

Red June 

Rhode Island Greening. 

Romanite 

Rome Beauty 

Smith's Cider 

Skinner's Seedling 

Stark 

Swaar 

Tompkin's King 

Twenty Ounce 

Vandevere 

Wagener 

Wealthy 

White Astracan 

White W. Pearmain 

Williams' Favorite 

Winesap 

Yellow Bellflower 

Yellow N. Pippin 

Yellow Transparent 

York Imperial 



X 
XX 



XX 



XX 

X 

XX 



X 
X 
XX 



X 

XX 

XX 

X 

X 



X 
XX 

X 



X 

XX 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 



XX 

X 

XX 



XX 
X 



XX 
XX 



X 
X 
XX 



XX 

X 

X 



X 

X 

XX 

X 

XX 

XX 

XX 



X 
XX 



X 
XX 



XX 

X 

X 



X 

XX 
X 
XX 

X 



XX 
XX 
X 
X 



XX 
X 



X 
XX 



X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

XX 

X 

XX 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 



X 

XX 



XX 
XX 
XX 



These remarks are applicable not alone to tlie apple but to 
other fruits for which tabulations will be given in subsequent 
cliapters : — 



CHAPTER XVII. 
THE APRICOT. 

California has peculiar adaptations for the growth of the 
apricot. It has often been pointed out that such adaptations are 
exceptional, and that nowhere else does the fruit attain such 
perfection nor possess such commercial importance. Although 
the apricot has been grown here from the earliest days of the 
American occupation, and though since the opening of the 
export trade in canned and dried fruits, the planting of apricot 
orchards has proceeded with great rapidity, present indications 
are that our distant patrons are only just beginning to recognize 
the desirability of the fruit, and that their demands will make it 
well-nigh impossible for us to extend our production beyond 
profitable limits. 

Though the apricot has some pests and diseases to contend 
with, they have thus far proved slight evils, and the tree is gen- 
erally regarded as one of our healthiest and most vigorous, as it 
certainly is one of our most beautiful orchard trees. It is long- 
lived and attains great size. On the old Routier place, on the 
banks of the American River, near Sacr.imento, are some apricot 
trees that were set out in the early fifties. They have a height 
all of fifty feet; the main trunks like forest oaks, and the first 
branches or limbs twelve and fifteen inches through. The 
smaller limbs and foliage were at least fifty feet across; a half 
dozen of them shaded an acre of ground and their average an- 
nual crop per tree has reached a ton of choice fruit. On the 
ranch of F. Hubert, near Burson. in Calaveras County, a seed- 
ling apricot tree planted March lo, 1857, has a trunk seven and 
one-half feet in circumference, and has yielded one thousand 
five hundred pounds of fruit of good quality in a season. At 
Haywards, Alameda County, on the orchard of the late Judge 
Blackwood, are apricots worked on peach stock in 1857, which 
are still in good bearing. His observation was that the apricot 
gives longevity to the peach root, for the peach trees of the same 
age not worked with apricot have disappeared. But forty years 
of life and vigor is only a part of the career of the apricot in Cali- 
fornia, if it is fair to judge by the vigor of trees in New Mexico, 
which were found growing there by the early trappers and front- 
iersmen, and were, apparently, old trees fifty years ago; and in 
Europe trees said to be two hundred years old are still bearing, 
( 200 ) 




^lSamL,!&^ 3l£JI/'tlL S^5aiM&ift*t 



I 



Localities for the Apricot. 201 

and trees are said to be at best age for fruit bearing between ten 
and fifty years. Intelligent treatment of the trees to secure 
growth of new wood, which will be mentioned presently, seems 
to give it almost indefinite productiveness. 

The apricot is a rapid grower and an early and heavy bearer 
in California. In the interior and in the southern coast valleys 
it yields a paying crop during its third summer in the orchard, 
and from eight to fourteen tons to the acre has been reached 
for several years in succession, in Judge Blackwood's old orch- 
ard of Royal apricots, in Alameda County. The trees, even of 
some varieties which are uncertam bearers, are large and vigor- 
ous growers, and have warranted the suggestion that there is a 
use for the apricot tree for a windbreak for the protection of 
other trees. The trees may be planted near together in strong 
land and make a windbreak that will pay its way without regard 
to such fruit as it may incidentally produce. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE APRICOT. 

In speaking of localities for the apricot, reference is, of 
course, only made to its growth as a standard orchard tree with- 
out protection of any kind. It shows even m California that it 
does not forget the conditions which destroy its thrift elsewhere, 
for late frosts in our upper coast counties render it, as a rule, 
unprofitable; and Lake County, just back from the coast, can not 
be commended for the apricot, except in protected situations. 
It is also sensitive to too great elevation on the foot-hills of the 
Sierra Nevada, though it thrives m tlie lower foot-hills. In the 
depressions of the great interior valleys the crop is often lost by 
frost. In the small valleys, apricots usually do better on the 
hillsides than on the floors of the valleys, because there is less 
frost at the slight elevations. 

It is often claimed that situations directly subject to ocean 
influences arc best for the apricot. It is noted by many ob- 
servers that the apricot "points its best branches to the ocean, 
in the very teetli of the constant breeze, and the landward limbs 
and twigs bend up and endeavor to reach in the same direction. 
This rs patent in everv tree, and in the long orchard rows is very 
striking."* This is taken to signify the special liking of the tree 
for the vicinity of the coast. It is well enough to interpret it that 
way, providing one does not lose sight of the perfect success ot 
the apricot in the interior as well. It is true that the fruit near 
the coast attains liigher color, and the less rapid growth of the 
tree makes it somewhat easier to handle, but the earlier ripening 
in the interior, coupled with freedom from fog and constarrt 
sunshine for drying, are points of the highest industrial import- 



' S. R. Thorpe, of San Buena Ventura. 
14 



202 Stocks and Soils for the Apricot. 

ance. The fact is that the apricot has a very wide range in Cal- 
ifornia, and though the trees have been cut out at some points 
it has been chiefly because too frosty locations have been chosen 
or because some other fruit has seemed to be locally more de- 
sirable, for one reason or another. 

In some valleys in the upper part of the State opening 
directly to the ocean, there is sometimes complaint of the crack- 
ing of the fruit on the sunny side. The alttrnation of sunshine 
and fog seems to have something to do with this, for in favor- 
able years, when fogs are few, the fruit is sound. 

Locations for early ripening of the apricot are to be chosen 
with reference tO' the influence of topography, as laid down in 
the chapter on that subject. In a general way, it may be said, in 
regions directly subject to coast influences, both in northern and 
southern California, the apricot is late. On the west side of 
the Sacramento Valley, in small, hiri-locked valleys, the earliest 
apricots have been grown for years. Protected situations in 
the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, on the eastern rim of both the 
Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, share in the production of 
the earliest ripening fruit. There is, probably, about a month's 
difference in the ripening of the same variety in the earliest in- 
terior situations and in the coast valleys of both northern and 
southern California. 

In the interior of southern California, in irrigated situa- 
tions, on the west side of the so-called Colorado Desert, and in 
Arizona, apricots rival in earliness the product of the famous 
valleys of interior northern California. 

STOCKS AND SOILS FOR THE APRICOT. 

Because of the success with which the apricot can be 
budded on various stocks, it has a wide range in adaptation to 
different soils. Budded on the peach root it may be grown 
successfully on the light, warm, well-drained loams in which the 
peach delights. The peach root is, in fact, largely used for the 
apricot. It gives the tree quick growth and early fruiting, and 
the fact that the gopher does not like the peach root is a con- 
sideration with some planters. In growing stock, pits of a 
strong-growing yellow peach should be secured. 

For deep, rich, well-drained, loamy soils, the apricot on its 
own root makes a magnificent tree. Apricot roots for budding 
are easily secured. The pits sprout as readily as corn. Some- 
times, where cutting and drying are done in the orchard, the 
ground the next spring will be almost covered with a volunteer 
crop of seedling apricots. These little plants, taken up and set 
out in nursery rows in March, are ready for budding in June or 
July. Large numbers of trees are sometimes secured in this 
way. In the upper San Joaquin Valley there are situations irv 



Exposures for the Aprieot. 203 

which the apricot seems more productive on its own roots than 
on the peach, and in the moisttr parts of the San Fernando and 
tributary valleys in southern California the apricot root has re- 
cently advanced in popularity. 

When it is desired to grow the apricot in moister and 
heavier soils than have been described, or where a light soil is 
underlaid by a heavy, retentive subsoil, recourse should be had 
to the plum root. Only a non-suckering plum stock should be 
used. For this purpose the Myrobalan has been considerably 
used. Some growers complain that the root has a dwarfing ef- 
fect on the tree, and object to its use. The manner of securing 
Myrobalan stocks has been described in the chapter on propa- 
gation. 

Apricot on Almond. — The almond should as a rule be re- 
jected as a stock for the apricot. Hundreds have tried it, and 
found that the scion never made a good union with the wood of 
the stock, but was knit to it only by the bark, and is, therefore, 
easily broken of? by the wind. It may grow well and some- 
times gets to be two or three inches in diameter before it breaks 
off, thus wasting much time for the orchardist. Whole orch- 
ards worked in this way have been a loss and disappointment. 

A few growers, however, approve the almond and use it 
with the idea that it gives larger fruit. J. J. Shaner, of Los 
GatO'S, advocates the almond stock for the Royal apricot in dry 
soils. He proceeds, however, by root grafting, instead of bud- 
ding, using the side graft. He cuts off the top of the stock about 
four to six inches above ground, scrapes away the dirt, bends 
the stock, and, with a sharp, thin knife, cuts into the root to the 
center, making the cut perpendicular, so that the graft will be 
that way when inserted. The scion should be made wedge- 
shaped. After insertion, draw the loose earth around it, and the 
work is done until the graft has made a growth of eighteen to 
twenty-four inches. This is given as a record of experience, 
but still caution is urged against the use of the almond as stock 
for the apricot. 

In adfiition to the specifications of certain stocks for differ- 
ent soils, it may be remarked, in a general way, that the apricot 
seems to thrive better on a tolerably heavy soil, with enough 
sand to make it work easily, than on a very light soil. It does 
well on soil rather too heavy for the peach. It also enjoys 
moisture better and gives signs of distress unless its roots are 
fairly supphed all during the season, but it dislikes standing 
water and should not be planted on undrained situations. 

EXPOSURES FOR THE APRICOT. 

The apricot blooms early; it follows the lead of the almond. 
Thus it runs greater risk than other fruits of frost injuries dur- 



204 Planting the Apricot. 

ing- blooming. And in the parts of the State most subject 
to frost, exposures should be selected in accordance with the 
principles laid down in Chapttr I, which treats of topography 
as related to fruit growing. 

In securing the advantage of the earliest ripening even in 
the earliest districts, elevation is of great importance. The first 
apricots of the season for a number of years have come from an 
elevated ridge, rising in the center of Pleasant's Valley, in 
Solano County. This ridge has higher hills but a short distance 
away on both east and west, which protect it from cold winds, 
and on all sides there is low ground, to which cold air can freely 
descend. In this spot apricots and other fruits ripen several 
days earlier than on other lands but little removed. 

PLANTING THE APRICOT. 

The apricot becomes a large tree in California, as has 
already been remarked, and it should be given plenty of room. 
Twenty-four feet each way is certainly a minimum distance for 
so large and long-lived a tree, and some orchards have been 
planted at thirty feet, if nearer planting is done it should be 
with reference to subsequent removal of part of the trees. 
Twenty feet apart, with later removal of half the trees to double 
the distance, or such an arrangement as proposed by H. D. 
Briggs, of Azusa, should be adopted: — 

In setting out an orchard it seems advisable to double set the ground, 
as an apricot twelve to fifteen years old should have not less than 800 to 
900 square feet of ground. This can easily be obtained by setting 20x20 
feet; then when nine or ten years old remove every other tree, making 
them forty feet in the row, with rows twenty feet apart, of course taking 
them out diagonally. The trees will very quickly tell the orchardist when 
they are too thick. When the outside rows have twice the fruit of those 
inside, it is quite evident that the time spent in pruning, etc., on half the 
trees is worse than wasted. I have cut roots 40 feet fiom a nine-year-old 
tree. 

The apricot makes such rapid growth and so much depends 
upon giving it proper form, as will be seen presently, that one 
year's growth is all that should be allowed in the nursery. Some 
growers would rather have a dormant bud than a two-year-old 
tree, and cases have been reported of trees from dormant buds 
outgrowing yearling trees planted at the same time in the same 
orchard. But in growing from a dormant bud in the orchard 
care should be taken to develop a short trunk, with properly- 
spaced branches, by pinching the side shoots near the ground. 
Trees started from dormant bud and allowed to branch from the 
ground, have developed very unsatisfactory form, and have, in 
some situations, lost their lower branches by the wind. The tree 
should have a low head, but a short trunk seems to give a better 
tree, and more elasticity to the branches. 



The Apricot Needs Attention. 205 

PRUNING THE APRICOT. 

Of all California orchard trees, the apricot seems most in 
need of the constant attention of the orchardist to give it proper 
shape and strength. It is a rampant grower, and in its zealous 
haste for size and fruitage it overreaches itself and becomes the 
prey of specific gravity and wind force. Thousands of trees 
have been ruined by literally breaking to pieces with the 
weight of their fruit, and being torn by winds- of only ordinary 
velocity. Thousands more have been rescued from such a fate 
by bolting the branches to each other. This excessive growth 
and consequent weakness of the apricot is greater in some parts 
of the vState than in others, because of the difiference in degree 
of forcing conditions, but everywhere the apricot needs watch- 
fulness and timely aid in building up its strength. The general 
principles to be observed in securing branches strongly attached 
to a short trunk have already been discussed at length in the 
chapter on pruning. 

There has been a very marked change during the last few 
years of the pruning of the apricot. Summer pruning, imme- 
diately after the fruit is picked, has become much more general, 
and winter pruning has proportionally decreased. The new 
practise is certainly more rational than the old. Young trees 
are winter pruned to promote low branching and short, stout 
limbs; bearing trees are summer pruned to promote fruit bear- 
ing and check wood growth — the excess of bearing shoots be- 
ing removed by thinning during the winter. 

The apricot tree bears upon old spurs, like the plum; also 
upon the new wood, like the peach. This fact has to be borne 
in mind when winter thinning of the new growth is undertaken. 

A very clear record of procedure by which J. B. Nefif, of 
Anaheim, Orange County, has built up one of the best apricot 
orchards in the State is as follows: — 

Pruning the apricot requires some skill and considerable judgment, 
which can only be formed by experience and observation of the habits of 
the tree. Trees of four to five feet in height are preferable for planting, and 
when planted should be trimmed to a single stem and cut off at eighteen 
inches from the ground. These will throw out shoots vigorously and fre- 
quently two or three shoots from one bud. These shoots should be thinned 
out, leaving not more than four or five, no two of which should come from 
one bud, nor be directly opposite. The first shoot should start twelve 
inches from the ground, the others in such a manner as to divide the space 
and make the branches balance, leaving the top shoot to form the central 
part of the tree. 

It will be necessary to go over the trees several times the first year to 
remove shoots that may start where not wanted, but no general heading 
back should be done, as it tends to dwarf the tree; though if some of the 
limbs are making an overgrowth they should be pinched back to keep the 
head balanced. 



2o6 Pruning the Apricot. 

The pruning of the second year should be done in January, as the tree 
will not be dormant until then, if it has been kept in a thrifty condition. 
The first year's growth should be cut back to within five to ten inches of 
the body of the tree, and all forks should be cut out, even if it necessitates 
forming a new head, as it is much better to lose some growth on a young 
tree than to take the risk of splitting down when the tree begins to bear 
fruit. 

When the shoots start for the second year's growth, take off all that 
come on the under side of the limbs and thin to one, two, or three, as may be 
needed to balance the tree, bearing in mind that an apricot tree always 
inclines toward the coast breezes in this locality. 

The second year will require much more attention than the first year, 
in order to keep off suckers and all lateral growth that may start on the 
under side of the new limbs, the object being to make the limbs grow as 
nearly upright as possible. The remark on heading back holds good for the 
second year also. 

The trees will become dormant earlier the second year than they did the 
first, but should not be trimmed earlier than December, and a month later 
IS preferable, as the ends of the limbs are not exposed to the drying winds 
so long before the sap begins to flow, and consequently will heal over bet- 
ter. The second year's growth should now be cut back to within fifteen to 
twenty inches of the old wood, except the central stem, which may be left 
twenty-four to thirty inches long, depending on the number of laterals it 
may have thrown out. When the new shoots start they should again be 
thinned down to two or three on each limb, and all taken off that tend to 
turn down or out at right angles, but do not take off the fruit spurs. 

The trees will need to be gone over about three times before July to 
remove suckers and lateral growth that may start on the lower side of the 
limbs, as the tendency in the third year is to make an immense growth 
of downward laterals, and these must be taken off so as to develop wood 
that is to be left for fruit. If the orchard is on good land and has been 
properly irrigated and cultivated.the trees should now be large enough to 
begin to yield fruit. The object in trimming during the first two years and 
the first half of the third year has been to grow a vigorous upright tree, with 
strong limbs, capable of carrying a heavy load of large fruit, and to get the 
fruit as close to the body of the tree as possible. 

There will be a few specimensof the fruit the third year, and as soon 
as these are gathered the trees should be summer pruned for the first time, 
care being taken that the land shall have been allowed to become mod- 
erately dry so that the trees may be partially dormant. If the downward 
growth of the laterals has been kept cut off, all that remains to be done is to 
cut off about one-half of all this season's growth all over the tree, using the 
same judgment as before with reference to prevailing winds and symmetry 
of tree. If this is properly done and water at once turned on the orchard, 
a new growth will be made and the fruit buds for next year fully developed. 

The only pruning necessary in the following winter will be to take out 
any cross limbs and sprouts that may have been overlooked in the summer. 
After the trees begin to produce regular crops they will not grow so 
vigorously, and the numerous prunings of the first three years will not be 
necessary, as almost all can be done by summer pruning until the trees get 
so old that they need the old wood taken out. This can be more readily 
done without damage to the trees where from 24 to 30 limbs are grown, 
than in the old method of leaving only eight or ten large limbs. 

When it becomes necessary to take out old wood — as the best fruit 
grows on new wood — a few limbs can be taken out each year until a full 
top of new wood is again made. 

Winter Pruning. — The evident defect of many old apricot 
orchards is the faihtre of the low-bearine wood and the thicket 



Reneival of Old Apricot Trees. 



207 



of brush near the ends of long bare Hmbs. Such trees need 
renewal of the top by vigorous winter pruning, which should 





Old Apricot Trees at Pomona Renewed by Pruning. 

preferably be done toward the close of the dormant season rather 
than early in the winter as formerly. Old and unprofitable trees 
have been reclaimed in this way. __ 

Winter prunmg is still the regular method in some parts of 
the State where the conditions do not favor excessive growth of 
the tree and where summer pruning does not seem to be called 
for. The practise is to remove half or two-thirds of the new 
growth and thin out, by removing entirely enough new and old 
wood to prevent the tree from becoming thick and brushy. 

THINNING THE APRICOT. 

All free-fruiting varieties of the apricot must be thinned to 
secure size acceptable to purchasers. It is the experience of the 
oldest growers that though thinning is an expensive operation, 
it is very profitable. When half the fruit is taken off in thin- 
ning, the remainder reaches as large aggregate weight as though 
the whole were allowed to mature, and the thinned fruit is worth 
about twice as much per pound. Even if less weight is secured, 
and in most cases the purpose should be to get less weight, 
the tree is spared the exhaustion of overbearing and the owner 



2o8 Irrigation of the Apricot. 

escapes a year of little or no fruit A discussion of this subject 
is given in a previous chapter. 

IRRIGATION OF THE APRICOT. 

Whether the apricot shall be irrigated or not is answered in 
the chapter on irrigation. In many locations, with proper prun- 
ing, thinning and cultivation, perfectly satisfactory fruit can be 
grown with the usual rainfall. In others a single winter irrigation 
will satisfy all the needs of the tree: in others a single irrigation 
just after fruit picicing and summer pruning will carry the tree 
through. It is a fact, however, that as the trees advance in age 
some supplement to the average rainfall is often desirable and 
in dry years irrigation is the saving of two crops. Some idea 
of the amount of water used can be had from the chapter on 
irrigation. The following account by J\Ir. Nell applies to his 
practise in Orange County, which is an average situation as to 
rainfall and atmospheric humidity, and is as good a general 
statement as could be made: — 

If rains are copious, winter irrigation may be dispensed with during 
the first two or three years after planting the orchard, but when the trees 
reach the age for bearing fruit the rain water should be supplanted by irriga- 
tion water until the soil is thoroughly wet 5 feet deep, and in order to have 
this, at least 20 inches of water, including rainfall, must be put on the land. 
Three irrigations should be given the trees during the first summer, but it is 
not necessary to wet more than a strip 5 or 6 feet wide along the tree rows. 
The orchard should have three irrigations during the second summer and a 
strip 12 feet wide should be watered, as the roots are reaching farther and 
the trees require a greater amount of water. The irrigation for the first 
two years should always be done before the trees show any want of water, 
so as to keep them growing vigorously. 

All the space between the trees should be watered the third year and 
afterward; but two irrigations will be sufficient for the summer. The 
best time for the summer irrigation of bearing apricot trees is when the 
fruit is about half grown, which is usually about the second or third week 
in May. 

If well watered at this time the fruit grows to its largest, and has time 
to ripen slowly as the ground gradually dries, until it has all the sugar which 
will go into the fruit. An orchard in full bearing that has been well watered 
in the winter should now have as much as full 100 inches of water for two 
hours on each acre (equal to four acre-inches). 

The second irrigation should be given as soon as possible after the 
summer pruning is done, in order to start the trees growing and develop 
the fruit buds for the next year. This will not require quite so much water 
as the irrigation in May, but ought to be as much as 100 inches of water for 
one hour on each acre. 

DISEASES OF THE APRICOT. 

Though the apricot tree, as has been said, is regarde3 as 
one of the healthiest fruit trees, it is subject to some maladies. 
Trees perish from being set in unsuitable situations, and in these 
cases, if the evil be stagnant water in the soil, or penetration to 



Diseases of the Apricot. 209 

alkaline subsoil, the root shows it. Sometimes, however, a 
branch or a whole tree withers and dies without apparent cause 
early in the summer, and while the root is still sound. The dis- 
ease is evidently acute, but its cause is not known, nor a remedy 
proposed. It is an old trouble of the apricot, and not peculiar 
to Califomia. 

The so-called "gum disease" sometimes causes injury to 
trees. The best treatment is to cut away the diseased part 
down to healthy wood and cover the wound with common lead 
and oil paint, put on sparingly so as not to flow over healthy 
bark. 

Some years certain varieties in particular are blackened at 
the pit and rendered unsalable, but the trouble has not thus tar 
proved serious generally, except with certain varieties which 
have generally gone out of use for that reason. 

The worst injury to tree and fruit is done by what is called 
the "shot-hole fungus" {Phyllosticta circumscissa), from its per- 
forations of the leaves as though by a charge from a shot- 
gun. It makes ugly scars on the fruit, which render it unsa- 
lable. The same disease also affects the leaves of cherries and 
plums. Thorough use of the Bordeaux mixture described in a 
later chapter will prevent this trouble. 

A disease which is prevalent in some districts of southern 
California is called "black heart;" a pit disease which sometimes 
does great injury. No treatment except that of pruning back 
to healthy wood has thus far been proposed. Root knot is also 
a serious trouble of the apricot, as of several other trees. It will 
be considered in the chapter devoted to diseases of fruit trees. 

Until recently the apricot has been generally free from 
scale insects, and it is not affected by those species which are 
worst oil some other fruit trees, but recently it has been seri- 
ously infested in some places with black and brown scales, which 
will be considered in a later chapter. 

The ripe apricot is sometimes seriously assailed by the 
diobrotica, a small green beetle, with twelve black spots upon 
its wing covers. Driving the insects away with smoke smudges 
has been used to some extent. Fortunately, the insect only oc- 
casionally occurs in large numbers. 

VARIETIES OF THE APRICOT. 

Though nearly all standard varieties of the apricot have 
been introduced and planted in this State, comparatively few 
are found on the lists of the orchard planters. Many local 
seedlings have been brought to notice and propagated to some 
extent but are less used now than ten years ago, and the dis- 
position is to restrict planting to a few old varieties. There is,, 
however, still a need of new varieties combining size, quality and 



2IO 



Varieties of the Apj^icot. 



regular bearing. As with most other fruits, some varieties are 
found to succeed wherever conditions favor the fruit at all ; other 
varieties succeed in some regions and not in others. Our table 
of varieties for the different counties shows this fact, and an 
attempt will be made to make the showing more explicit by 
notes in connection with the mention of each variety. 

Apricot Varieties Approved by California Growers. 



Variety. 



Central 

Coast 

vallevs. 



Interior 

valley and 

foot-hills. 



Southern 
California. 



Blenheim 

Early Golden 

Early Moorpark 

Hemskirke 

Large Early 

Large Early Montgamet . 

Luizet 

Moorpark 

Newcastle 

Oullin's Early 

Peach 

Royal 

Routier's Peach 

Sparks' Mammoth 

St. Ambroise 



XX 
X 



XX 
XX 
XX 
XX 
XX 



XX 
XX 
X 



X 
X 
X 
XX 



XX 
XX 
XX 



XX 
X 



In the following statement the arrangement is approxi- 
mately in the order of ripening, and the descriptions are from 
Downing, with additions and changes to meet local observa- 
tion : — 

VARIETIES OF FOREIGN ORIGIN. 

Large Early. — A French variety; fruit of medium size, rather oblong 
and compressed; suture deep, skin slightly downy; pale orange in the shade, 
fine bright orange with a few ruddy spots in the sun; flesh separating 
readily from the stone, orange colored, rich and juicy; kernel bitter. This 
variety is especially popular in the southern coast counties, but in most 
situations has proved an uncertain bearer. Ripens before Royal. 

Early Golden.— On^m unknown; small, roundish oval, with suture well 
marked and extending half way around; skin smooth, pale orange; flesh 
yellow, moderately juicy and sweet, with very good flavor; separates from 
the stone. This variety is reported favorably from some counties, but gen- 
erally otherwise, and is not largely grown. Ripens before Royal. 

Royal. — A French variety, and at the present time the leading Califor- 
nia apricot. Of large size (when well thinned out), free stone, fine color 
and flavor, good bearer, and fruit ripens evenly, when well grown; a favor- 
ite with the canners and an excellent variety for drying. Fruit roundish, 
large, oval, slightly compressed; skin dull yellow with orange cheek, very 
faintly tinged with red, and a shallow suture; flesh pale orange, firm and 
juicy, with a rich vinous flavor. 

There is a variety somewhat grown in Sacramento and Solano Counties, 
sometimes called "White Royal," which is not liked by canners, because 
of its lack of color and flavor. 



Varieties of the Apricot. 



211 




Blenheim Apricot, Grown in University Orchard. 

Large Early Mojitgamet. — Large, orange yellow, reddish on sunnyi 
side, firm. I 

Oullift's Early. — Early form of Peach apricot, large size, delicious 
flavor. Ripens in Amador County four weeks earlier than Peach. 

Luizet. — Large, oval, distinct suture, one side higher than the other; 
orange with crimson cheek; flesh deep yellow, firm, rich. Especially 
approved in the upper San Joaquin. 

Blenhebn or Shipley. — This is a valuable variety in this State and seems 
to surpass Downing's description both in vigor of tree and size of fruit. 
John Rock modifies Downing's description to suit California experience 
with this variety, as follows: "A very good variety, above medium, oval; 
orange, with a deep yellow, juicy, and tolerably rich flesh; vigorous grower 
and regular, prolific bearer." This agrees perfectly with the behavior of 
the variety in the University orchard at Berkeley, where it is the best of 
twenty varieties. It is not reported so constant a bearer in some other 
parts of the State. Fruit runs a little larger than the Royal, and is usually 
better distributed on the tree, but it must be well thinned. This variety 
has been approved by canners. Ripens a little later than the Royal. 

Early Moorpark — Very popular in southern California, where its iden- 
tity has been long m dispute, and is not yet fully determined. The Early 
Moorpark of Thomas Hogg is as follows: Roundish, inclining to oval, with 
very deep suture on one side, extending from base to apex. Skin yel- 
low, mottled, and dotted with crimson on the exposed side. Flesh in all 
respects resembling Moorpark. Stone oblong, with a covered channel 
along the back, which is pervious. Kernel bitter. Ripens three weeks 
earlier than Moorpark. 

St. Ambroise. — Large, early, compressed, deep yellow, reddish on 
sunny side. Juicy, rich, and sugary, with firm flesh when grown in the in- 
terior; apt to be coarse and to lack flavor near the coast. Condemned by 



212 Varieties of the Apricot. 

canners for not processing well, and by dryers for loss of weight and for 
white color around the pit. It has served well as a shipping variety. 

Bergetti. — An undetermined variety introduced by Mr. Bergetti and 
widely distributed under his name in the San Joaquin. Closer comparison 
may prove it to be St. Ambroise. 

Hemskirke. — A fine English variety quite widely grown in California; 
ripens later than Royal, described by Downing as follows: "Fruit large, 
roundish, but considerably compressed or flattened on its sides; skin orange, 
with red cheek; flesh bright orange, tender, rather more juicy and sprightly 
than the Moorpark, with rich, lucious, plum-like flavor; stone not perforate, 
rather small, and kernel bitter." Esteemed in California because the tree 
is more hardy and a more regular bearer than the Moorpark, and the fruit 
ripens evenly on both sides. 

Peach. — A variety from Piedmont of the largest size, about two inches 
in diameter, roundish, rather flattened, and somewhat compressed on its 
sides, with a well-marked suture; skin yellow in the shade, but deep orange 
mottled with brown on the sunny side; flesh of a fine yellow, saffron color^ 
juicy, rich, and high flavored; stone can be penetrated like Moorpark and 
has bitter kernel. This is a very successful sort in the warmer parts of the 
State especially, and is a favorite in the Sacramento Valley. It ripens just 
ahead of the Moorpark. 

Moorpark. — A standard of excellence and an old variety which origi- 
nated in England. Fruit large, roundish, about two inches and a quarter in 
diameter each way; rather larger on one side of the suture than on the other; 
skin orange in the shade, but deep orange or brownish red in the sun, 
marked with numerous dark specks and dots; flesh quite firm, bright 
orange, parting free from the stone, quite juicy, with a rich and luscious 
flavor; stone peculiarly perforated along the back, where a pin may be 
pushed through; kernel bitter. In California the Moorpark reaches grand 
size, but has the fault of ripening unevenly in most localities. The tree is 
tender and bears irregularly, which leads to its rejection by most planters, 
though some growers cling to it because of its size and quality and occa- 
sional grand crops. The San Jose districts lead in the production of this 
variety, and in some parts of the Santa Cla^a Valley the Moorpark seems 
to ripen uniformly. The same behavior is reported from localities in the 
upper San Joaquin Valley, where it also seems to be a more regular bearer. 
The variety is almost wholly rejected in southern California. 

VARIETIES OF CALIFORNIA ORIGIN. 

Newcastle.— Ox\^\x\-dX.&di with C. M. Silva & Son, of Newcastle, Placer 
County, in 1881; size full medium, round; rich golden yellow, with brilliant 
red cheek in the sun; freestone; flavor sweet and rich; not quite as large as 
the Royal, nor quite as rich in flavor, but prettier, being more highly colored 
— the coloring being nearly equal on all sides, except that it is rather darker 
on the side to the sun. The tree is an early, regular and good bearer, a 
medium grower, being rather more upright in its habit than the Royal. 
Its time of ripening is seventeen days earlier than the Early Golden and 
twenty-five days earlier than the Royal — the three varieties being in the 
same orchard within a few yards of each other, and treated in the same way 
as to culture. 

Roiitier' s Peach. — Originated with Hon. Joseph Routier, near Sacra- 
mento. Large, yellow in shade; deep < range, mottled or splashed with red 
in the sun; flesh juicy and rich, high flavor and a good market variety. 
Blooms a week later than peach. Very popular in Sacramento and San 
Joaquin Valleys. 

Sparks' Mammoth. — Popular in Ventura County. Largest size, even 
larger than Moorpark, pale yellow, very tender, juicy and sweet. Recently 
quite widely distributed in southern California, but its bearing habit is in 
question. 



V<'#; 




CHAPTER XVIII. 
THE CHERRY. 

Although the amount of cherries grown in this State is 
small as compared with the aggregate weights of some other 
fruits, the cherry, from the growth of the tree and the size and 
quality of the product, is entitled to rank as one of the grand 
fruits of California. The size of the California-grown cherry is 
a matter of pride with residents, and a marvel to visitors. It is 
related that one of the most distinguished Eastern pomologists, 
who was taken to an Alameda County cherry orchard during 
picking-time, could not recognize the varieties, though he had 
himself propagated and shipped to California the very trees 
which were bearing the fruit, the size of which so far surpassed 
all his mental standards. And quality is commensurate with 
size. Whatever disagreement there may be concerning the fla- 
vors of our other fruits as compared with Eastern, the rich- 
ness and excellence of the California cherry have never been im- 
peached. Recently the shipment of cherries to eastern markets 
and the extension of the canning mterest have considerably en- 
larged the opportunity for profitable growth of the fruit. 

Famous Old Trees. — The longevity and productiveness oi 
the cherry tree in this State is naturally of interest. Cherries 
were planted in some of the earliest settled parts of the State 
and are still in full vigor. One of the most famous trees is a 
Black Tartarian, which was brought from France by Dr. L. E. 
Miller, and planted by him in 1854, on land now owned by 
Robert Hector, in Placer County, just below Rattlesnake Bar, 
on the American River, about eight hundred feet above sea level. 
It is described as seventy feet in height, the branches cover- 
ing a space between seventy and seventy-five feet in diameter. 
The trunk branches about six feet above the ground, and at that 
point has a girth of over ten feet. A close record of its crop 
has been kept, as follows: 1886, two hundred boxes, of ten 
pounds each; 1887, one hundred and eighty; 1888, three hun- 
dred; 1889, two hundred and twenty; and 1890, three hundred 
boxes. Since that date this yield has not been exceeded. The 
trees are too large to be profitable, for the fruit has to be picked 
with the aid of extension ladders securely guyed, by men slung 

(214) 



Localities for the Cherry. 215 

in swings from such ladders or the forks of the trees. Mr. Hec- 
tor has about fifty of these large trees. Other large trees are 
to be seen near Woodside, San Mateo County, and near Oro- 
ville and Chico in Butte County, some of which have borne a 
ton of fruit in favorable seasons. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE CHERRY. 

There has been an idea that the area adapted to the growth 
of the cherry is quite limited. The great valley was generally 
condemned, though at some points the trees were very produc- 
tive, and at other points grew well but did not bear. Southern 
California, both on the coast and in the interior, was announced 
as unsuited for the cherry. Later experience is recording suc- 
cessful growth and fruitage of the tree in many places where it 
has long been regarded a failure, and it now seems likely that 
early disappointment resulted chiefly from lack of attention to , 
the soil and moisture conditions which best suit the tree. 

How far atmospheric conditions which are beyond control 
influence the growth and fruitage of the cherry, can not yet be 
fully determined, but ample trial seems to demonstrate the un- 
satisfactory character of the tree, manifested in small fruit and 
sun-burned foliage, on the plains of the interior valleys, although 
the soil is kept moist enough. There is, however, still the hope 
of securing varieties of the fruit which have been developed 
under conditions similar to those prevailing in the interior of 
California. Professor J. L. Budd believes that the Russian 
cherries, which are largely grown in a region subject to high 
summer heat and dry air, will succeed in parts of California 
where the varieties originating in west Europe fail. 

SOILS FOR THE CHERRY. 

The cherry thrives in free, deep soil, in which water does 
not stand within about fifteen feet from the surface. It delights 
in deep deposits from old water courses, and does not dislike a 
moderate amount of sand. A loam underlaid by a sandy sub- 
soil is acceptable, but a loam underlaid by clay has shown its 
unfitness by the early failure of the trees, while those on deep 
loam near by have remained vigorous and profitable. On the 
foot-hills it thrives in the light, mellow soil and fails in the tight 
clay either in soil or subsoil, as it does in the adobe of lower 
lands; and yet a clay loam of no great depth upon a clay subsoil 
may grow good trees if the clay be so disposed that surplus 
water from winter rains can escape and water is at hand to 
guard against summer drouth. But this is merely a suggestion 
for garden growth of the cherry. Commercial orchards should 
have a good depth of sufificiently retentive soil. The great 



2i6 Requirements of the Chej^ry. 

cherry trees of Mr. Hector, in Placer County, which we have 
mentioned, are growing- right on the bank of the American 
River, where the soil is a pure, sandy loam, in some places over 
sixty feet deep, as proved by an old shaft ouce dug near the 
center of the orchard. 

But though the cherry dislikes a wet soil, it is particular 
about its water supply and insists upon enough, its require- 
ments being greater than some other trees. During the dry 
years 1898 and 1899, trees came into distress where they had 
never suffered before, and many large, valuable trees died. The 
only new condition they encountered was lack of soil moisture. 
It thus appears that while the cherry is undoubtedly injured by 
excess of water in the soil, it is still very exacting in its require- 
ment of an adequate supply. If this can not be retained in the 
soil by cultivation, irrigation must be resorted to. Thus the 
cherry growers in the famous Willows district, of San Jose, 
usually find it an advantage to give their trees an irrigation be- 
tv/een the spring rains and the ripening of the fruit, and another 
irrigation after the fruit is gathered. 

These facts show that the cherry must have enough water 
or it will not succeed. On the other hand, there must not be ex- 
cessive moisture in the soil either from irrigation or by moisture. 
Cherry trees in southern California, planted with orange trees 
and given similar irrigation, have failed utterly. Planting on 
naturally moist land in low places has also failed, and observed 
facts some time agO' led to the conclusion that at the south 
the cherry should be planted on well-drained land, which could 
be irrigated (as the behavior of the tree indicated its need of 
water), rather than on naturally moist land, because of the likeli- 
hood of excessive moisture in such situations. More recent 
experience has declared mellow, well-drained soils of the higher 
lands well adapted to the cherry, and on such soils, when well 
cultivated, cherries have done well without irrigation at Pasa- 
dena, Pomona and elsewhere. The commercial cherry prod- 
uct of southern California conies, however, from mountain val- 
leys and high plateaux — the chief regions being the Yucaipe 
Valley above Redlands and the Mesa Grande region in the in- 
terior of San Diego County. 

In California, as elsewhere, the Dukes and Morellos may 
succeed where the liearts and Bigarreaux fail. The May Duke 
seems especially hardy, and bears well in Nevada, where other 
sorts fail utterly. 

Late Fruiting of Cherry Trees. — Though the cherry in favor- 
able situations bears early, the grower, especially on strong, 
rich lands, will often have many years of disappointment from 
falling blossoms and fruit. During this time the trees will be 
making marvelous wood growth, and this apparently sup- 



Exposures for the Cherry. 217 

presses the fruiting function. Usually these trees will ultimately 
bear when their exuberant growth declines. They can be 
thrown into fruit sooner by root pruning", digging a trench 
around about eight feet from the tree, and severing the roots thus 
encountered, or by summer pruning of twig ends. Because of 
this overgrowth, growers give such soil to the apple or the pear 
rather than the cherry. Sometimes the non-bearing of the 
cherry is inexplicable. Though everything seems to be right, 
and the blooms are profuse, the fruit will not stick. Some 
think it is due to lack of association of ditiferent varieties and 
cross fertilization. It is held at Vacaville that keeping bees in 
the vicinity of cherry orchards has increased the bearing. 

EXPOSURES FOR THE CHERRY. 

Exposures for the cherry are chosen both with reference to 
protection from frost injury and to early ripening of the fruit. 
The cherry blooms early; it is almost as venturesome as the 
almond. In protected situations, guarded from cold northerly 
winds, and open to sunshine on the south and southeast, the 
fruit advances to maturity very rapidly. In Vaca Valley about 
a month of good weather after the blossoming will ripen an 
early cherry. The pioneer cherry growers of Vaca Valley went 
there fron) their old homes in Napa Valley, because they could 
gather and market cherries in their new locations before the 
same varieties were ripe in Napa. They chose places protected 
on the north and west by steep hills. The two things to secure 
are, apparently, protection from the sweep of cold winds and 
elevation above the deposit of cold air, which occurs in depressed 
places. 

In localities where fruit ripens late, as near the coast, there 
is no need to seek forcing conditions, for the extra early varieties 
should not be planted except for family use. Early varieties 
are comparatively poor in quality, and will not sell profitably, as 
tliey will reach the market alongside of better later sorts from 
earlier districts. The place for the cherry in the later districts 
is on the most proper soil, according to the requirements which 
have been laid down, avoiding, however, so far as possible, wind- 
swept spots, and seeking amelioration of direct ocean influences 
by elevation or intervention of hills and windbreaks. 

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING THE CHERRY. 

In the chapter on propagation is given a successful method 
of growing cherry seedlings. California cherry trees are al- 
most exclusively propagated by budding on seedlings of the 
Black Mazzard. 

The planting of the cherry is covered by the general con- 
siderations already given for the planting of orchards. The 



2i8 Planting the Cherry. 

distance which cherries should be set apart is a disputed point 
among planters. Mr. Hector, drawing the suggestion from his 
mammoth trees, would plant them eighty feet apart on such soil 
as his, and thinks forty feet near enough on any good soil. This 
is the extreme of all distances which have been named, and 
looks to the needs of the trees a generation ahead. This is 
farther in the future than most growers care to calculate, and 
would prefer to let the coming generation cut out some of the 
trees if necessary. Still trees should not be set too close. When 
planted twenty feet apart the trees have interlaced their branches 
when sixteen years old. and the spaces between the rows have 
been covered in like colonnades. In the Haywards region the 
branches of twelve-year-old trees set twenty-eight feet apart have 
nearly reached each other, though continually cut back. Much 
depends in the matter of distance upon the manner of handling 
the trees. The trees can be grown much nearer together by 
continuous pruning than where the usual way of cutting back 
for the first few years and letting the tree take its natural growth 
after that, is followed. James E. Gedney, of Mesa Grande, 
San Diego County, practises close planting and cutting back. 
He says: — 

I plant my trees twenty feet apart each way. My method is to plant 
thus closely and then keep my trees low, by cutting back, every year; this 
facilitates gathering the fruit very much. I prefer this way to setting the 
trees farther apart and allowing them to attain too great a height. By the 
former method I secure fully as good, if not better, results per acre, to say 
nothing of the difference in gathering the fruit. Another advantage in 
keeping the trees headed low is that the wind does not affect them nearly 
as much as it does tall trees. 

Thus it appears that one may fix his distance in planting 
according to the method of pruning he proposes to follow, re- 
membering, however, that the cherr}' is naturally a large tree, 
and most old orchards are now overcrowded. 

As with other trees, orchard planters prefer trees with one 
year's growth on the bud in the nursery, because they usually 
get, then, a straight switch with well-developed buds all the way 
down, and the head can be formed as desired. For garden 
planting, older trees, properly pruned in the nursery, can be used 
to advantage. 

PRUNING THE CHERRY. 

All our best growers agree in the advantage of a low head 
for the cherry, and all aim to have the trunks from the ground 
up to the limbs literally covered all around with leaves, which 
completely shelter the bark from the rays of the sun. In plant- 
ing, therefore, the side buds are carefully preserved — not to be 
grown into branches, but to be cut or pinched back when they 
have come out a few inches, leaving just growth enough to clothe 



Pruning the Cherry. 



;2i9 



the tree with a covering of its own foHage. This was early in- 
sisted on by the late Mr. Geiger, of San Jose, and as we have 
mentioned it, we will proceed first to describe his method of 
growing the cherry tree, as shown by the following illustration. 




Natural and Trained Growth of Young Cherry Tree. 

The first figure shows the way unpruned young trees usu- 
ally grow in this State, shooting upward quickly and exposing 
their stems to sunburn and borers. The second figure shows 
Mr. Geiger's method of developing spurs from the ground up to 
the head. These spurs not only furnish leaves to shade the 
trunk, but soon become fruit spurs and bear well. But this fig- 
ure also shows Mr. Geiger's way of shaping the upper part of his 
tree by carrying up a leader with a regular system of side 
branches. He heads back at planting to two feet, pinching off 
the shoots below the head as stated, and allowing the shoots 
which form the head to grow larger, but they too are all pinched 



220 Pruning the Cherry. 

except the leader, which is allowed to grow as long as it pleases 
during the summer. About February or March, for Mr. Geiger 
does not believe in pruning the cherry until the buds begin to 
burst in the spring, he cuts back the leader to about twelve or 
sixteen inches from its starting-point and cuts back the side 
branches to about six or eight inches. This is done year after 
year, cutting back and thinning out the side shoots, pinchmg the 
laterals, and allowing the leader to grow, never interfering 
with it until the spring pruning, and always letting it predom- 
inate over the side shoots. By cutting short, wood is mcreased, 
but at the end of six years the tree goes into fruit very rapidly. 
As the tree increases in fruit, it decreases in wood, and by the 
time it is ten or twelve years old there will be but little cutting 
to do, except to shorten in and thin out, and this requires some 
judgment and experience, to know where to cut, how to cut, 
and when to cut. To shorten in, never cut down to an old 
fruit spur. It is very difficult to get healthy wood out of such; 
but whenever you can find last year's wood, there you can cut 
with safety anything that is less than one inch in diameter. 

This system of pruning must be accompanied by constant 
pinching during the summer-time. It should commence when 
the lower shoots are about six inches long, and be followed up 
closely all through the growing season. Those on the trunk 
should never get longer than eight or ten inches, under any cir- 
cumstances. After these are pinched, let the trees rest ten or 
fifteen days, or until the branches in the top get a good start. 
Then pinch everything clean but the leader, in every main 
branch in the tree. The leader takes its own way all through 
the growing season, to prevent the effects of over-pinchmg or 
checking growth. If only the side shoots are kept back, the 
leader or head of the branches receives the current or fiow of 
sap and maintains and carries on life and vitality in the tree. 
One object in pinching or spur pruning is to keep back surplus 
wood and create fruit spurs, throwing all the little twigs and 
branches into fruit, thereby utilizing all the wood the tree can 
produce, not allowing it to grow at the tree's expense, and then 
have to cut it off. And another object in side-shoot pruning is 
to make the tree produce fine large cherries, all closely nestled 
around the big wood, and no long, slim branches hanging down 
like weeping willow. All such branches are always more or 
less sunburnt on the top and lull of worms, one of the evils 
tending to the destruction of the tree. 

Mr. Geiger's method is commended to those who like a tree 
with a central leader, and are willing to give their orchards such 
constant attention as he does. His orchard near San Jose shows 
that his system is practicable; in fact, he followed it for a life- 
time, and his orchard is still famous. 



Common Practise zvith the Cherry. 221 

THE USUAL METHOD OF PRUNING THE CHERRY. 

As we have said, all cherry growers agree on low heading 
and on the advantage of pinching the lowest shoots as soon 
as they make a bunch of leaves. In forming the head, and in 
after treatment, the usual method is quite dift'erent from that we 
have described. It follows the vase or goblet form, which has 
been discussed at length in the chapter on pruning. Of the ap- 
plication of this method to the cherry, W. W. Smith, in an ad- 
dress before the State Horticultural Society, said: — 

The cherry may be pruned the same as any other deciduous fruit trees 
until it is about five years old; after that the less pruning the better, except 
when necessary to cut out a dead or crossing branch. Pruning the cherry 
is more or less likely to produce gum (and this, decay), and should be 
avoided as much as possible. Cherry trees, however, should be trained 
with low heads not to exceed eighteen inches from the ground to the first 
branches; fifteen inches is better. From three to five branches are enough 
to form the head of the tree; all others should be removed early. Three 
are better than five; two makes a forked tree, which is likely to split down 
in after years. 

At the end of the first season we have a neat little tree with three to 
five branches. During the following winter these branches should be cut 
back from six to eight inches. The next season these should be allowed to 
produce two branches each (no more); then, at the end of the second 
season from planting out, we have a tree with from six to ten branches. 
The following winter the new growth should be cut back again to from 
twelve to eighteen inches — according to the amount of growth the tree 
makes — the less the growth the more you cut. The same process should be 
repeated the following winter, treating each branch as an individual tree, 
until the tree is about five years old; it takes at least five years to get the 
head of a cherry well established. After this, as some varieties will persist 
in throwing out branches near the ground, they should be removed during 
the summer. At this age the tree, if well grown, will have top enough to 
shade its body from the sun, and there is no further need of branches on the 
main trunk. 

If necessary to remove large branches it should then be done in tnid- 
summer, as that is the only season when the gum is not more or less exuded. 
We make it a rule to go over and dress up and prune our cherry orchard 
immediately after the crop is gathered — which in our part of the State is the 
last of May. All wounds made then by the removal of branches or other- 
wise will heal over the same season. All large wounds made at any time, 
however, should be coated over with paint. 

The method thus described by Mr. Smith is that by which 
probably nine-tenths of the cherry trees of this State are shaped. 

In the cherry there should be the same observation as to 
cutting inside and outside buds as with other trees; in fact, 
the outside bud is the rule, because so many varieties make a 
directly upright growth. In removing limbs, cutting to tlie 
collar or swelling at the base of the limb is especially important, 
also the covering of the wound to prevent checking of the wood. 

GRAFTING OVER THE CHERRY. 

Since canning of cherries began on a large scale, there has 



222 Grafting the Cherry. 

been a vastly increased demand for white cherries. The Royal 
Ann (a local name for Napoleon Bigarreau) has been the fa- 
vorite. Other white sorts are also used for canning. This rise 
in favor of the white cherries has vastly increased their propor- 
tionate production as compared with the choice black and red 
varieties, which are still popular as table fruit. 

It is the experience of growers that the cherry is grafted 
over as easily as the pear or apple, if the tree is healthy. In 
large trees as many as fifty or one hundred grafts may be set, 
choosing the smaller limbs, even if you have to go pretty high 
in the tree. J. W. Cassidy, of Petaluma, advises grafting be- 
fore the sap begins to liow in the winter, or if not done then, 
v/ait until the buds are well advanced or the tree in bloom. He 
has trees which were over thirty years old before they were re- 
headed, and they now have fine tops of new and healthy wood, 
and produce abundantly. 

PESTS AND DISEASES OF THE CHERRY. 

The disease of the cherry which is most heard of is the 
"gum," or overflow and condensation of sap, which, if left to 
itself, often induces decay of adjacent bark and wood. Without 
attempting to explain the cause or causes of the unhealthy exu- 
dation, it may be said that prompt treatment of certain mani- 
festations is desirable, and in others the tree should be cleansed 
from the flow. Where the gum exudes on the side of trunk or 
limb, the thin outer bark should be pared away with a sharp 
knife, the accumulation of gum and sap removed, and the 
wound painted with lead and oil paint. Mr. Geiger used for 
this purpose a mixture of two parts of resin and one of shellac 
melted together, adding a small piece of tallow to the melted 
mass. Gum in the crotch should be cleanly brushed out when 
softened by the winter rains. If allowed to remain, it becomes 
sour and offensive and may injure the tree. In places where 
two or three limbs come out close together a kind of cup is 
formed, which will hold the gum from one year's end to another, 
and, in its soft state, leaves, sticks, cherry pits, dust, and dirt will 
stick and hang, and sometimes the mass becomes so foul that 
the stench can hardly be endured. By this collection, also, a 
nest is made for all manner of insects, bugs, and worms. An- 
other evil in letting the gum stay on is. if rain does not wash 
it of¥ clean, it runs down the trunk of the tree and makes the 
bark look bad, and if it is very thick on the bark when it dries, 
it will contract and crack the bark crosswise, and is very injuri- 
ous to the tree. 

Gummirig in the crotch can be largely avoided by starting 
the young cherry as advocated in the chapter on pruning. 
Branches which emerge from the trunk at separate points and 



Diseases of the Cherry. 223 

at wide angles seldom gum: those which are crowded together 
or emerge at acute angles gum badly. In shaping young trees 
a gumming joint sometimes may be clearly cut out and those 
branches selected to remain which start out more nearly at a 
right angle; in older trees there is nothing to do but keep the 
fork clean, as already described. 

There are cases reported in which gumming of old trees 
has been stopped by allowing the ground to lie uncultivated, 
weeds being cut down with the hoe. Some trees which per- 
sisted in making rank wood growth, and bearing no fruit, have 
been made fruitful by the same treatment. As a rule, however, 
the cherry thrives with good cultivation. 

Die-back of the Cherry. — The dying back of cherry branches 
is more or less common in all regions, and the immediate cause 
thereof is not known. It is apparently sometimes a root trouble, 
as is the dying back of other fruit trees. This might have re- 
sulted from standing water in the winter in the soil, although 
the same condition may result from lack of sufBcient moisture. 
Anything which causes destruction of the root hairs is apt to 
cause die-back and other forms of unthrift in the top. Early 
vegetative activity in the branch, followed by frost, seems also 
to occasion die-back in some cases. Fortunately, this can occur 
without injury to the rest of the tree, though it is sometipies 
and in some places destructive to the tree in the end. The only 
treatment is removal of the affected wood, and if this can be 
done during the growing season, as soon as signs of injury ap- 
pear, it is all the better. 

The Gopher. — One of the most dangerous foes of the cherry 
is the gopher, for he seldom takes less than the whole tree, 
young or old. Traces of his presence should be constantly 
watched for, and killing methods described in a later chapter 
adopted. If a tree is seen to wilt suddenly, the probability is 
that a gopher has girdled it. Covering the wound sometimes 
saves the tree, but not usually. 

Insects injuring the cherry will be mentioned in a subsequent 
chapter. 

VARIETIES OF THE CHERRY. 

Many varieties of the cherry have been tested in this State, 
and many have been abandoned from one cause or another. 
Those most frequently starred in our table are the survivors in 
public esteem. As our reports have come from those who grow 
for market, possibly some sorts too tender for shipment, but 
excellent for family use, are omitted, but will be included in the 
descriptions which follow the table. The claims to value upon 
v/hich a variety is judged are several: Extra earliness, an im- 
portant consideration in early districts for shipment, and else- 



224 



Varieties of the Cherjy. 



where for local sale or family use; firmness to withstand 
mechanical injury by jarring in transit and durability to escape 
decay during the long journey to distant markets; firmness and 
fixed color to stand processing in the cannery and to prevent 
coloring the juice; lateness to extend the cherry season. 

In classification of cherries it was origmally considered that 
there were four classes of cherries. The Hearts were the tender 
and half-tender sweet cherries, while the Bigarreaux were the 
firm-fleshed ones; but these have been so intermingled and 
blended together by hybridization that no distinct line can now 
be drawn separating them. There is really but one class of 
these, whose main characteristic is the large, vigorous growth of 
the tree. The Duke and Morello cherries, also wanting a nat- 
ural division, really constitute but one class. 

Cherry Varieties Approved by California Growers. 



Variety. 



Upper 
Coast 



Central 
Coast 
region. 



Interior 

valley 

and 

foot-hills. 



Mountain 

valleys 

and 

plateaux. 



Southern 
California. 



Advance 

Bing 

Black Heart 

Burr's Seedling 

Centennial 

Chapman 

Earl}' Purple Guigne.... 

Elton. 

Knight (Early) 

Lewelling 

Mezel 

Napoleon (Royal Ann). 

Pontiac 

Rockport 

Schmidt 

Spanish (Yellow) 

Tartarian (Black) 

Wood (Governor) 



X 
X 
XX 



XX 
XX 
XX 



XX 
XX 



May Duke 
Morello .... 

Olivet 

Richmond. 



XX 

X 



X 
XX 



XX 

X 



It has been attempted to arrang'e the varieties approximately 
in the order of their ripening. The brief descriptions of stand- 
ard varieties are in the main condensed from Downing, modi- 
fied, however, in some respects, by reference to experience and 
observation of California growers and nurserymen. 
- In addition to the old standard varieties, a number of 



Varieties of the Cherry. 225 

Pacific Coast seedlings have become popular, and otlieis are 
very promising. Special description of these seedlings will tol- 
low the standard sorts. 

BIGARREAUX AND HEARTS. 

Early Lantaurie. — Fruit large, dark purple; flesh rich, juicy, excellent. 
Downing says a week earlier than Early Purple Guigne. Has proved the 
earliest cherry in the University collection at Berkeley, and in Vacaville 
district. Not fully tested as to regular bearing. 

Guigne Marbree. — "Fruit medium large, round, skin dark red; flesh 
purplish red, tender, juicy, delicate flavor." — Gillet. "A better bearer 
than Early Purple Guigne." — W. W. Smith. 

Bamnann's May (Early Black Guigne). — Rather small, deep rich red, 
becoming rather dark when fully ripe; tender, juicy, tolerably sweet and 
good. 

Early Purple Guigne. — Small to medium size; purple; tender, juicy, 
and sweet. This variety is considered the earliest good cherry. It is 
reported a shy bearer in some localities. 

Belle d' Orleans. — Above medium size, roundish, heart-shaped; whitish 
yellow, half-covered with pale red; very juicy, sweet and excellent. 

Early White Heart. — Below medium size, rather heart-shaped, skin 
dull whitish yellow, tinged and speckled with pale red in the sun; flesh melt- 
ing, sweet, and pleasant when fully ripe. 

White Tartarian. — Fruit of medium size, obtuse heart-shaped; skin 
pale yellow; stalk slender; flesh whitish yellow; half tender and very sweet. 

American Heart. — Fruit pretty large, heart-shaped, often nearly four- 
sided and irregular in outline; borne in clusters; flesh half tender; skin 
strong and adhering to flesh. 

Werder's Early Black.— An early variety, moderately productive; tree 
vigorous, spreading; fruit large, black, tender, sweet and excellent. 

KnighVs Early Black. — "Large, black, tender, juicy, rich, and ex- 
cellent; high flavor; a shy bearer until the trees attain age." 

Rockport Bigarreau. — Large; pale amber in the shade, light red in the 
sun; half tender, sweet and good; a very excellent and handsome cherry; 
good bearer; highly esteemed for canning and shipping. 

Coe's Transparent. — Medium size; pale amber, red and mottled next 
the sun; tender, sweet and fine. 

Cleveland Bigarreau.— K thrifty, strong, spreading grower, and pro- 
ductive; large; clear red and yellow; juicy, sweet, and rich. 

Black Tartarian.— YnnX. of the largest size, bright purplish black. 
Flesh purplish, thick, juicy, very rich and delicious. Tree a remarkably 
vigorous, erect, and beautiful grower, and an immense bearer; the best of 
the black cherries. 

Governor Wood. — Large; light yellow shaded with bright red; flesh 
nearly tender, juicy, sweet, rich and delicious; a vigorous grower and very 
productive. 

Elton. — Large, pointed; pale yellow, nearly covered with light red; 
juicy, with a very rich and luscious flavor; one of the best. 

Black Eagle. — A very excellent English variety, ripening in June; large 
size, deep purple, or nearly black; flesh deep purple, tender, with a rich, 
high-flavored juice. 

American Amber. — Fruit medium sized, roundish, heart-shaped; skin 
thin, smooth, light amber, delicately mottled and overspread with bright 
red; flesh tender and juicy, but not high flavored. 

Yellow Spanish (Bigarreau Graffion). — Large; pale yellow, with red 
cheek in the sun; flesh firm, juicy, and delicious; one of the best, most 
beautiful, and popular of all light-colored cherries. 



226 Varieties of the Cherry. 

Mezel, Monstrueuse de (Great Bigarreau). — A foreign variety of the 
largest size; dark red or quite black; firm and juicy; late. 

Pontiac. — Large; dark purplish red; half tender, juicy, and agreeable. 

Burr's Seedling. — Large; yellow, shaded with red; sweet and rich; 
vigorous and great bearer; apparently does better near the coast than in 
the interior. 

Oxheart. — Fruit large, obtuse, heart-shaped; skin dark red; flesh red, 
half tender, with a pleasant juice of second quality. 

Napoleon Bigarreau (Royal Ann). — A magnificent cherry of the largest 
size; pale yellow, becoming amber in the shade, richly dotted and spotted 
with deep red, and with a bright red cheek; flesh very firm, juicy and sweet. 
Tree a free grower and an enormous bearer. 

Tradescanf s Blackheart (Elkhorn). — Large, heart-shaped; deep, glossy 
black; very solid and firm; dark purple, moderately juicy. 

Sch-midf s Bigarreau. — "A new German variety lately introduced. 
The largest of all the Black Bigarreau cherries. Skin of a deep black 
color; flesh dark and very juicy, with a fine flavor." — John Bidwell. 

DUKES AND MORELLOS. 

Early Richmond (Kentish).— An early, red, acid cherry; valuable for 
cooking early in the season. 

May Duke. — An old, well-known, excellent variety; large, dark red, 
juicy, subacid, rich. 

Arch Duke. — Fruit large, obtuse, heart-shaped; bright red becoming 
dark; flesh light red, melting, juicy, rich, subacid flavor, very good; tree 
more upright and vigorous than May Duke. 

Late Duke. — Fruit large, flattened or obtuse, heart-shaped; white, 
mottled with red, becoming rich dark red when ripe; flesh yellowish, tender, 
juicy; hangs long on the tree. 

Reifte Hortense. — "It is one of the very largest of cherries; a beautiful, 
glossy red, or deep pink, when fully ripe; heart-shaped; a universal bearer, 
and when hanging on the tree no fruit is more beautiful; excellent for can- 
ning, but too soft and juicy for shipment." — W. W. Smith. 

English Morello. — Large, dark red, nearly black; tender, juicy, rich, 
acid, productive and late. 

Guigne Noir Luisante (Black Spanish). — Fruit medium size, round, 
heart-shaped, glossy, blackish red; flesh reddish purple, tender, juicy, rich, 
acid. 

Belle Magnifiqice . — Fruit large, roundish, inclined to heart-shape; skin 
a fine bright red; flesh juicy, tender, with sprightly subacid flavor; one of 
the best of its class; a fine table fruit when fully ripe. 

PACIFIC COAST SEEDLINGS. 

Lewelling — Black Republicari (Black Oregon). — "Seedling by Seth 
Lewelling, Milwaukee, Oregon, from seed planted in i860; first fruited in 
orchard in 1864. Widely distributed in California. Large, black, sweet, 
with purple flesh; ripens ten days after Black Tartarian." — James Shinn. 
"Large, late black cherry, good flavor, long keeper; dries and ships well. 
Seems to succeed better on foot-hills than in the valley." — Robert William- 
son. "Supposed to be a cross between Napoleon Bigarreau and Black 
Tartarian, having the solid flesh of the former and the color of the latter; 
very late."— yb/zw Rock. "I am of the opinion that the Black Republican 
and Lincoln came from the seed of the Black Eagle, but I have little idea 
of what variety they were crossed with." — Seth Lewellitig. 

Bing. — Originated by Seth Lewelling, from seed of Black Republican. 
"Fruit large, dark brown or black, very fine; late; a good shipping 
variety." — Seth Lewelling. Tree vigorous, and foliage heavy. 



Varieties of the Cherry. 227 

Centennial.— A. seedling of Napoleon Bigarreau, raised by Mr. Henry 
Chapman, in Napa Valley, and fruited by him for the first time in 1876. 
Propagated and introduced by Leonard Coates, of Napa, in 1885. It is 
larger than its parent, more oblate in form, and beautifully marbled and 
splashed with crimson on a pale yellow ground; exceptionally sweet and of 
remarkable keeping quality. Described by Committee of American Pomo- 
logical Society (1885) as follows: "Size large, slightly oblate; amber, with 
dark crimson marbling; flesh firm, sweet, and rich; quality best; condition 
excellent (after crossing continent by mail), Showing its good shipping 
qualities." The Centennial has been little planted recently, because of 
superiority of Royal Ann. 

California Advance. — Originated by W. H. Chapman, of Napa, propa- 
gated by Leonard Coates, of Napa. Seedling of Early Purple Guigne, 
ripens one week earlier than its parent; is larger and more obtuse, rounded 
form, and said to be a heavier bearer; dark purple turning black; rich and 
sweet, and of good degree of firmness. 

The C>;r^c«.— Seedling of Napoleon Bigarreau, by H. W. Prettyman, 
of East Portland, and named by Oregon State Horticultural Society in 1888; 
described as larger than Napoleon; firm; dark red; "fit to eat earlier than 
Napoleon, but coming to full maturity somewhat later." Introduced in 
1888, by W. S. Failing, Portland. 

Oregon has been prolific in originating new varieties of the 
cherry which are locally popular, but only a few have established 
themselves in California. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE PEACH. 

The peach was for many 3'ears the leading orchard fruit of 
Cahfornia, but the recent large planting of prunes has relegated 
the peach to second place. The peach was the first fruit to ripen 
on the improved trees brought here by the early American set- 
tlers, and the magnificence of the peach was consequently the 
key-note of the refrain which greeted the ears of the world in 
which the California gold cry was ringing early in the fifties. 
In fact, the gold from the mine and the gold from the tree were 
very nearly related. In old Coloma, where gold was discov- 
ered, there was a peach tree which bore four hundred and fifty 
peaches in 1854, which sold for $3.00 each, or $1,350 for the 
crop of one tree, and in 1855, six trees bore one thousand 
one hundred peaches, which sold for $1.00 each. Some of these 
pioneer trees are said to be still living and bearing fruit. 

LONGEVITY OF THE PEACH IN CALIFORNIA. 

There are many other facts to establish the claim that the 
peach tree, if planted in a suitable soil and situation and cared 
for with any devotion and skill, is not a short-lived tree in Cali- 
fornia. California is too young to mark the limits of its dura- 
tion, but there are numerous instances in the earliest-settled 
places in the State, where peach trees above forty years old are 
still vigorous and productive. 

In favorable soils the peach is stronger and longer lived in 
the root than in the top, and sometimes triumphs over neglect by 
discarding its old, wind-broken, sun-burned and bark-bound 
branches, and forms a new head of its own. This is the reason 
why the intelligent system of pruning which is now prevalent, 
ministers to the longevity as well as the profitability of the tree, 
aiding it to constantly renew its youth by restraining its exuber- 
ance, and at the same time furnishing it sound new wood on 
which to grow its fruits and foliage. But while these are facts, 
there is some difference of opinion as to the point at which an 
old tree becomes less valuable than a young one. Along the 
Sacramento River some count about a dozen good crops as the 

(228) 



Localities for the Peach. 229 

limit, and thus replace the trees when about fifteen years of age. 
This is a point which may vary greatly, according to local condi- 
tions. 

Early Productiveness. — Quite as important as the longevity 
of the peach tree are the facts of its rapid growth and early pro- 
ductiveness. It is the first of our fruit trees to attain size and 
yield a profitable crop. In localities best suited to its growth 
it will mature some fruit the second summer in the orchard 
if the small shoots are not pruned away from the main branches, 
and during the third summer averages of forty to fifty pounds 
per tree have been secured from considerable acreages. These 
facts arc stated to show what the peach of good variety may do 
in a good situation and soil and with the best of care. Of course 
they are not to be taken as average results, although greater 
than those given are sometimes attained. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE PEACH. 

Nearly every county in California reports the possession of 
poach trees. Above an elevation of four thousand feet on the 
sides of the Sierra Nevada, they may be subject to winter kill- 
ing, and lower still careful choice of situation has to be made 
to avoid frosts at blooming-time — the peach in such places be- 
ing subjected to some dangers which beset it in the eastern 
States. Below these points, however, lies the great fruit belt of 
the foot-hills of the Sierra, where the peach is the chief fruit 
grown and its excllence is proverbial. Size, beauty, richness, 
and delicacy of flavor, firmness, which endures carriage to the 
most distant markets, are all characteristics of the foot-hill 
peaches of California. 

In the great interior valleys of the State wherever proper 
condition of soil and water supply can be found, the peach also 
thrives, the tree making a wonderfully quick and large growth, 
and the fruit attaining great size. 

In the small valle\s on the west of the great valley and on 
the eastern slopes of the Coast Range,, there are also extensive 
areas suited to the peach, and sheltered places on the eastern 
and western edges of the Sacramento Valley have produced the 
earliest fruit for a long series of years. Recently the contest for 
the earliest fruit of these districts, with the foot-hill district on 
the east side of the Sacramento Valley and special locations in 
the upper San Joaquin Valley, has been quite close. 

In the coast valleys, opening upon San Francisco Bay and 
the Pacific C>cean, the peach is also a leading fruit. Its success 
IS greatest, however, where good shelter is had from direct coast 
influences. Even where open to these iiifl.uences, good peaches 
can be grown by choosing the smaller range of varieties, which 



230 Soi'/s and Exposures for the Peach. 

do well by protecting the trees froni harsh winds, and by seek- 
ing elevation above depressed valleys, whose frosts are frequent. 
The occurrence of curl-leaf is a factor of much importance, 
which will be considered presently. In the coast counties north 
of San Francisco Bay the danger to the peach from unfavorable 
atmospheric conditions increases as one goes northward, and 
situations must be chosen with greater care. And yet by such 
exercise of care, peaches for home use and local markets can be 
successfully grown. 

South of San Francisco Bay the coast influences soften as 
you proceed southward, and the peach draws nearer to the ocean, 
choosing, however, elevations, and avoiding broad, wind-swept 
areas and narrow defiles where drafts and fogs are frequent. At 
considerable elevations, as on the Santa Cruz Mountains, some 
varieties of peaches are notably excellent. The general rule 
holds with the peach, as with other fruits, that coast influences 
retard ripening and the season of the ft^it is late. 

In the valleys and at elevations in southern California the 
peach is largely grown and high excellence attained. 

SOILS AND EXPOSURES FOR THE PEACH. 

Though the range of soils for the peach can be somewhat 
extended by the choice of stock for budding upon, as will be 
considered presently, its range is narrower that that of the 
apricot. The best peach soils are light, deep, sandy loams, 
rather dry than moist, but under all circumstances well drained. 
It will thrive on land with a considerable mixture of coarse sand 
or gravel, providing it contain also needed elements of fertility; 
for the rapid growth and heavy fruitage of the peach requires 
abundant nutrition. Though it accepts coarse materials both in 
soil and subsoil, it relishes fine sediment and perhaps finds no 
more congenial location than in the deep, sandy loam, or sedi- 
mentary deposit bordering the creek beds of our warm valleys, 
and will send its roots deep to secure long life and abundant 
fruitage. Such soils, whether along existing streams or de- 
posited by prehistoric water courses, which have left their mark 
by the elevated ridges of rich sediment above the prevailing 
valley soils, are warm, deep, and thoroughly drained, and delight 
the peach. 

At elevations on the hillsides there are free loams which 
result from decomposition of the underlying rocks, and on them 
the peach thrives, both where the soils themselves are deep and 
where the underlying rock is loose and open, permeable by roots 
and affording escape for water. Success has been reported even 
when holes are partly excavated in these rotten rocks, as in the 
soft sand rock on the hills east of Vaca Valley, or in the broken 
chalk rock in what is called Blackburn Gulch, near Santa Cruz. 



Peach Propagation, 231 

The superior warmth of such soils is supposed to minister to 
earher ripening of the fruit, though the escape from cold air by 
elevation is no doubt a greater factor to the end. 

The influence of comparatively slight difference in eleva- 
tion is very marked. E. R. Thurber, of Pleasant's Valley, 
Solano County, has a plat' of peach trees on a natural terrace 
about seventy-five feet higher than the general level of his 
orchard. On the terrace his peaches ripen and are disposed of 
before the same varieties ripen in the orchard below. 

As in the valley a short distance to vv^ater is to be avoided, 
so oil the hills too great percolation from higher levels is unde- 
sirable. Of course natural defects of this kind can be corrected 
by adequate under-drainage. 

Still, though such be the general soil conditions best suited 
to the peach, the tree can be well grown for home use or local 
markets on somewhat heavier soil, providing there is good 
drainage, but drainage must be insisted uppn, for thousands of 
trees have perished during the last few years because planted in 
retentive soils without drainage. Alkaline soils should, how- 
ever, be avoided, as the peach, when grown on its own roots, 
seems to be of all fruits most sensitive to alkali. 

As to exposures for the peach the same rules hold as for 
other fruits which are liable to injury when in bloom or young 
foliage. Thus low places where cold air settles should be 
avoided, also low gulches through which cold drafts prevail. In 
frosty situations an incline away from the morning sun will 
often allow the trees to escape serious injury. 

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 

The chapter on propagation gives the general method of 
growing and budding peach seedlings. In selecting pits, pref- 
erence is usually given to those from strong-growing, yellow 
peaches, at least for working on the same colored truit, while 
others use pits of the Morris White, others the Strawberry, and 
others still will use only pits from vigorous seedling trees. In 
this State the peach is usually so healthy and vigorous, and the 
"yellows" not known, and less care may be needed in selecting 
pits; still, there is certainly nothing lost by making every efifort 
for a good stock. 

The hard-shell sweet almond has long been used as a stock 
for the peach. It is held that it gives a hardier, stronger root, 
in dry soils especially. 

When it is desired to grow the peach on moister soil than 
suits its own roots, the St. Julian plum is used. The Myrobalan 
has been used to some extent, but experience generally does not 
favor this stock. 



232 . Peach Planting. 

The so-called "peach-almond" has been used to some 
extent. It is a fruit havuig the pit of a peach but the pericarp 
of an almond, that is tough and tasteless and disposed to split 
like an almond hull. Early in the fifties a chance hybrid of this 
sort appeared in the nursery of W. B. West, of Stockton, and its 
pits were used for nursery seedlings which, when budded to the 
peach, produced good trees. Trees bearing the peach-almond 
are found here and there over the State. Mr. Burbank has pro- 
duced a hybrid of the Wager peach and the Languedoc almond. 

Distance in Orchard. — Distance observed in planting peach 
orchards differs greatly, according to the views of different 
growers. Regarding the peach as a catch crop to plant be- 
tween apricot, pear, cherry, w'alnut, fig or other slower-grow- 
ing, larger trees, the trees may be set comparatively close; that 
is, with the latter trees at thirty to forty feet, and alternate rows 
of peach planted quincunx, and to be removed at the end of ten 
to fifteen years. If the peach is to have the ground to itself, 
some planters plant at eighteen feet in equilateral triangles, or 
twenty to twenty-four feet on the squares, the present tendency 
with the peach, as with other trees, being to give more room 
than was the custom a few years ago. 

Age of Trees. — In planting peach orchards yearling trees 
are generally used, although far more are planted in dor- 
mant bud than of any other kind of fruit trees. The reason for 
this is easily found in the disposition of the peach to make a 
tree the first year from the bud. It springs almost at once into 
a full outfit of laterals. Some growers employ this disposition 
to form a head the first year in the nursery. When the bud has 
grown out eighteen inches, pinch it oft at the top and force out 
laterals, which make long growth the same season. When 
planted out in orchard the following winter, cut back to ten or 
twelve inches. In this any one can get a yearling with the equiv- 
alent of a two-year-old head on it. The common practise is, 
however, to let the growth from the bud proceed as it chooses, 
and when the yearling is set in orchard, cut back to a single 
bud, laterals w^hich are desired to form the head and remoAang 
others. The development of form from a yearling branched in 
the nursery is illustrated in chapter on pruning. 

Recently preference has arisen for smaller trees for trans- 
planting and, especially in the foot-hills, June buds, described 
in the chapter on propagation, are largely employed. 

Planting Dormant Buds. — The chapter on planting describes 
the planting of yearling trees. The lifting of dormant buds 
from the home nursery and planting in orchard is described by 
P. W. Butler, of Placer County, as follows: — 

Have the o;round prepared and stakes placed in position in the orchard 
in early February, if possible, and begin the planting at once, while the trees 



Selecting Peach Trees. 233 

are in dormant bud. Take no more trees from the nursery than can be 
planted in haif a day. Plow a furrow on each side of the row, six inches 
from the trees, turning the soil from them, then two men with heavy spades 
or shovels, one on each side of the tree, can readily take it up without 
breaking many of the roots; and what are so broken should be smoothly 
trimmed with a sharp knife. Place the trees in a tub of water, near where 
they are to be planted, and take from it only a few at a time. Put them in a 
basket or box and cover with wet sack, that they may be kept moist until 
placed in the ground. 

On planting, place the bud one inch below the level of the ground, but 
do not cover it until after it has grown to the height of a few inches. The 
stock should be cut off at the bud with a thin, sharp knife, and not with 
shears, as is often done, as the latter method will sometimes split the tree, 
when it will take in moisture and not heal readily. 

Some growers do not cut back the young seedling tree 
until growth has started out well on the dormant bud. 

Rather more care is needed in handling dormant buds both 
in planting and in their young life in the orchard. Lookout 
niust be kept for suckers and against injury m cultivation. Suc- 
cess with dormant buds is notable. In good hands they com- 
monly outgrow yearlings planted at the same time, and the 
percentage ol loss from failure of the bud to start is very small. 
Of course every bud should be examined before planting, to see 
that it has a healthy color. 

In the selection of peach trees for planting, a clean, healthy 
root only should be taken. During recent years there have 
been a good many young roots afiected with knots or swellings 
from some obscure cause. Such trees should be burned. If 
planted, the knot sometimes grows to an enormous size and 
little or no top growth is made. 

PRUNINC; THE PEACH. 

As has been advised for other trees, the peach should be 
given a low head, developed as described in the chapter on prun- 
ing. In its after-treatment, it has been the universal experience 
that constant "heading in" is essential to the strength and health 
of the tree. This also has been considered in an earlier chapter. 
The peach is a pressing instance of the necessity of regular 
pruning, to renew and regulate the amount of bearing wood 
and to promote profitable longevity in the tree. Illustrations 
of the pertinence of these remarks are found in the practise of 
the most successful peach growers in all parts of the State. A 
few instances will be given: — 

The peach, fruiting only on wood of the previous year's growth, bears 
fruit farther away from the body of the tree each year, and the small shoots 
of from one-eighth to three-sixteenths in diameter begin to decline when 
the fruit is removed. To have healthy growth, all of these small branches 
must be removed the first winter following their fruiting, when there is a 
greater tendency to form small new growths, which may fruit the following 

16 



234 Pruning the Peach. 

season. In the peach, it will seldom be found necessary to remove any in- 
terior branches, except suckers, until they have produced a crop, when 
they will begin to decline and should be removed. 

"I would certainly not cut peach trees back less than one-half of the new 
growth in the winter pruning, and our trees are getting too large for their 
age even with that amount of pruning. This has suggested, in other locali- 
ties, summer pruning or shortening in, with success in some places. So far 
my own experience is favorable. It will be noticed on trees kept growing 
rapidly that the fruit buds are near the ends of the shoots, and it seems to 
take away too many of these buds to cut back one-half in the winter prun- 
ing, but by cutting back about one-half the new growth in August, fruit buds 
are developed lower down, and where they would not be developed with- 
out the summer pruning." — H. Culbertson^ El Cajon, San Diego County. 

"Prune the peach every year, cutting back and thinning out the center, 
using great care not to cut out too many of the little fruit shoots of new wood 
growing on the main branches, but removing the slender branches of the 
old wood, leaving as many branches of the new growth as the tree will sup- 
port. In this case judgment must be used as to what the tree will support. 
The soil may be wet or dry, rich or poor, the grower must be the judge. 
To grow small fruit, prune lightly; to grow large fruit, prune with care and 
iudgment. To get this judgment you must have some practical experience. 
I prefer doing the work when the sap begins moving in the spring of the 
year. All cuts heal over better then and the pruner can see how the buds 
are setting and use his own judgment as to how much wood he wants to 
cut out." — R. C. Kelts, Yuba City, Sutter County. 

"Cutting back the peach must be more severe, as the growth of the new 
wood diminishes. Not more than five or six fruit buds should be left on a 
shoot, and if the fruit all sets, it must be also thinned. The trees should be 
trained low and their vigor encouraged by permitting a reasonable amount 
of young shoots to grow around the lower part of the main limbs. When 
this method is continued systematically every season, the trees will bear 
large crops of fruit, of good quality, for many years. When they are 
allowed to overbear for one or two seasons, the fruit will decrease in size, 
and soon become almost worthless; the trees will be enfeebled, and in con- 
sequence very liable to be attacked by disease. The only thing to be done 
in this case is to cut off the whole top of the tree, allowing it to form a new 
head. I have seen old peach orchards thus renovated, and the results 
are often very flattering, but it is far better not to allow them to get into a 
condition where this desperate remedy is necessary." — Leonard Coates, 
Napa. 

Cutting Back the Peach Is not Shearing. — Some undertake 
the annual pruning of the peach by a sliearing process, treating 
a fruit tree as one would a hedge — cutting everything to a hue. 
There has been a good deal of this done in California, but it 
is wrong nevertheless. Shortening in the new growth of the 
peach each year is proper practise. It is the first step toward 
preventing overbearing of small, unmarketable fruit and saving 
the tree from profitless and injurious effort. Thinning the 
shoots by removing all but one when two or three start from the 
same point is also working" toward large fruit and regular bear- 
ing in the tree. This shortening and thinning of the new wood 
must also be followed by thinning of the young fruit just after 
the natural drop and it is seen that the tree carries too many. 
Proper pruning can not be done by shearing because it is apt to 
shorten the strong shoots too much and the weak shoots too 



Thimiing Peaches. 235 

little. Each shoot must be cut by itself according to its growth 
ana its ability to carry more or less fruit. Shearing, too, does 
not thin out the shoots but continually multiplies them until 
the tree is as full of brush as a hedge. 

THINNING PEACHES. 

Thinning out fruit on the peach tree is not only the secret 
of obtaining good, marketable fruit, but joins hands with prun- 
ing in preserving the health and future production of the tree. 
The importance of thinning has been urged in a previous chap- 
ter, but the following is a very strong statement, by Mr. Cul- 
bertson : — 

In my experience there is no single operation in connection with Iruit 
growing of more importance than thinning. The past season, in order to 
test the difference in expense of preparing large and small peaches for dry- 
ing, I timed the cutting, and found it took double the time; hence, double 
the expense, which meant a difference of about I15 per ton of dried 
fruit. Add to this a difference of two cents per pound in price makes 
I55 per ton. Suppose an orchard under good treatment produces a ton 
of peaches to the acre, then I55 would represent the difference in profits. 
Unthinned or small fruit is certainly undesirable. 

As to how much thinning should be done there are diverse opinions. 
Some take off one-half, others three-fourths. Some growers thin to meet a 
certain ideal, but find it difficult to explain in words. The common rule of 
leaving a specimen of fruit every four or six inches is a safe rule; that means 
many must come off. Different conditions of soils, climates and irrigation 
vary the amount to thin out more or less. More may be left where the tree 
is on land giving a strong, vigorous growth. 

In thinning peaches I have been practising a method that gives good 
results and is easily learned. The peach bears on three sizes of branches, 
that are one-eighth, three-sixteenths, and one-fourth of an inch in diameter. 
The first has two peaches, the second three, and the third four; this, of 
course, after there has been a judicious course of pruning and the trees 
under irrigation; trees on dry land should have only one-half as many left. 
To reach this result often a dozen may have to come off, allowing only two 
to remain. The more there are the greater necessity for thinning. 

The time for thinning peaches is as soon as one can be sure which are 
likely to remain on the tree and which will drop of their own accord. 

WORKING OVER PEACH TREES. 

The fashion in peaches changes from time to time according 
to the demands of the canners or the market for dried fruit. 
The grower often finds varieties which he first selected, less 
healthy, less productive, or, for other reason, less desirable than 
others. There is, therefore, often occasion for working over 
trees. Budding is often resorted to, buds being successfully 
set in quite old wood, providing buds from well-matured wood 
are taken. Wood buds from young trees unaccompanied by 
fruit are best, but because of greater certainty of securing the 
variety desired, it is common to take wood and fruit buds to- 
gether from bearing trees. A larger cut of bud and adjacent 



236 Grafting the Peach. 

bark is taken when working- in old bark than for use on seed- 
lings. When a branch is budded, it is sometimes broken at a 
distance beyond the bud and allowed to hang, the idea being to 
furnish the bud some but not too much sap. Some growers 
thus bud and break part of the branches, allowing others to 
remain unworked, to maintain the growing processes ot the tree. 
These branches and those in which buds have not taken, are cut 
ofT and grafted the following spring. The almond is successfully 
grafted over with the peach, and this course has been followed 
with thousands of unproductive almonds. 

Grafting the Peach. — Grafting the peach by the ordinary 
top-grafting with a cleft graft seldom succeeds. A side graft 
with saw and knife is better. It is described by J. W. Mills, of 
the University Experiment Station, near Pomona, as follows: — 

Saw grafting is rapidly taking the place of cleft grafting, for it does 
away with all difficulties arising from splitting and there is no cavity left in 
the heart of the limb or tree. The process is to saw off the limb at the de- 
sired place as in cleft grafting, then saw across the corner and down the side 
at an angle of about 45 degrees and trim out with a sharp knife. Place the 
knife blade a little to one side of the saw cut, a little farther from the edge 
at the top than at the bottom, and by pressing on the knife the whole sides 
of the crevice will be trimmed smoothly at one stroke; this operation re- 
peated on the other side of the saw cut will make a neat notch in the end of 
a solid limb. By cutting a little deeper from the saw cut at the top than at 
the bottom, and if the amateur does not trim his scion at the right angle, he 
can insert it gently in the crevice or notch and see just where to trim. If he 
is so slow that the fresh cut shows signs of discoloration, he can make a 
fresh surface by placing his knife parallel to the edges and shaving off a thin 
slice. He still retains the same angle, but the scion will set a little deeper, 
which is no objection. By cutting a thin layer off the top of the stump next 
to the notch will show exactly where the inside layer of bark is. The inside 
bark of the scion must be even with the inside layer of the bark of the 
stump or limb that is being grafted. If the scion is inclined slightly out or 
in at the top, it will make a correct union at some point and be sure to grow. 
If the inclination is very slight the union will extend over considerable 
length and will make a much better start than if the union is at only one 
point, owing to the enlarged surface through which the sap is transmitted. 
One of the most important points in grafting is to have good wax and go 
over the grafts a few days after they are put in and re wax them. 

DISEASES OF THE PEACH. 

Curl-Leaf. — The most prevalent trouble with the peach 
tree in California is the curl-leaf. It was noticed from the first 
planting- of peach trees by Americans, nearly forty years ago. 
Only recently has it been conceded to be due to parasitic fungi, 
and its prevention by washes of fungicidal character demon- 
strated. The treatment will be described in the chapter on tree 
diseases. The facts of its occurrence may be stated as follows: — 

Curl-leaf is much more prevalent in some sections than 
others, and in one place than another in the same section, and 
some sections are practically free from it. Some varieties are 



Diseases of the Peach. 



■237 



nuich more subject to curl- leaf than others; generally speaking, 
some curl nearly everywhere, others curl in one place and not 
in another, others are practically free from curl in all situations. 

Curl-leaf occurs in various degrees. Mild cases do not seem 
to injure either tree or fruit; severe cases destroy the fruit and 
sometimes the tree itself. I'he disease is almost always at its 
height when the young fruit is about the size of small peas. If 
the curl is "bad," the fruit will fall to the ground, there not be- 
ing healthy leaves enough to afford the required support. If, 
however, the curl is moderate and partial, only a part and some- 
times none of the fruit will be lost. The disease, as is well 
known, is of brief duration, say twelve to twenty days, after 
which the trees resume a healthy appearance in every respect, 
and if the fruit has been able to survive the ordeal, it also ap- 
pears to grow and become as perfect as if no check had been 
given to its growth. 

Mildew. — This disease, which occurs in the form of whitish 
felted patches on leaf and twig early in the spring, and finally 
affects the fruit, has long been troublesome in this State, and 






Characters in the Leaves of Peaches. 



occurs on certain susceptible varieties in many localities from 
the coast to the Sierra foot-hills. Observation in this State has 
fully affirmed the statement of Downing, that the serrate, gland- 
less-leaved varieties are liable, and those with good glands on 
the leaf stems are free. 

The conclusion would be that where mildew prevails, varie- 
ties with serrate, glandless leaves should be avoided. But it has 



238 Varieties of the Peach. 

been found that some glandless-leaved varieties, although sub- 
ject to mildew, resist curl-leaf. Therefore it may be worth whi.e 
to combat the mildew. This has been done effectually by 
treatment which will be described in a later chapter. 

As with curl-leaf, mildew is prevalent some years and slight 
in others. 

VARIETIES OF THE PEACH. 

Nearly all varieties of the peach have been tried in Cali- 
fornia, and, as with other fruits, it has been found that varieties 
nmst be chosen with reference to their sviccess in special loca- 
tions. Choice has also to be made according to the purpose of 
the grower, whether for early marketing, for sale to canners, for 
drying-, or distant shipment or for late marketing. As with 
apples, there is little use of planting early varieties (unless it 
be for home or local use) except in very early regions. P\x\ early 
peach from a late region is killed by competition with better 
middle season sorts from the earlier regions. 

In an early region one can plant early, middle, and late 
varieties to advantage, and thus secure a very long-fruiting sea- 
son. The peach season in interior districts begins at the tirst of 
June with the Alexander, and continues to the end of Novem- 
• ber with local seedlings — giving six months of peaches. Of 
course the very early and very late sorts are only of use for 
marketing as table fruit. The most important series is a fine 
succession of mid-season peaches, suitable either for canning, 
drying, or distant shipment. Such a selection can be made 
from the tables and descriptions which will be given later. 

■ Color is a most important item in the peach. While can- 
ners and Eastern shippers vise the beautiful white peaches to 
advantage, the fashion for canning and drying is now strong in 
support of the yellow-fleshed varieties and clingstone. The 
yellow peaches are in greatest demand. The color about the 
pit is also an important point. Canners demand a peach, 
whether white or yellow, which is almost free from color at the 
pit, because the extraction of the red color dyes the juice; in 
drying, the demand just now is for a yellow peach with a red 
center, because the colors give the dried fruit a more attractive 
appearance. Of course there is a market for dried white peaches, 
but the preference is for the yellow. 

In the enumeration following the table only those seed- 
lings which are now commercially propagated are included. 
Many which were prominent ten years ago have been dropped 
by this test. The writer has record of many others, some of 
them likely to rise to important place, which are reserved until 
after further trial. 



The Most Popular Peaches. 239 

Peach Varieties Approved by California Growers. 



Varieties. 



Upper 

Coast 

valleys. 



Alexander 

Amsden 

Albright 

Bilyeu 

Briggs' May 

California Cling 

Decker 

Early Charlotte 

Early Crawford 

Early York 

Elberta 

Foster 

George Fourth 

George's Late Cling .... 

Gen. Bidwell 

Globe 

Golden Cling (Sellers 1. 

Hale's Early 

Heath Cling 

Henrietta 

Honest Abe 

Indian Blood 

La Grange 

Late Crawford 

Lemon Cling 

Lovell 

McDevitt Cling 

McKevitt Early 

McKevitt Cling 

Mary's Choice 

Morris' White 

Muir 

Newhi.ll 

Nicholl's Cling 

Oldmixon Free 

Orange Cling 

Persian Cling 

Phillips' Cling 

Piquet's Late 

Runyon's Or. Cling 

Sal way 

Smock . 

Snow 

St. John 

Strawberry 

Stump 

Susquehanna 

Tuskena 

Wheatland 

Wylie Cling 

Yellow Tuscany 



Central 
Coast 
valleys. 



Interior 

valley 

and 

foot-hills. 



XX 



XX 
XX 



XX 
X 



X 
XX 



XX 

X 

X 

X 

X 



XX 
X 

XX 
XX 



XX 

XX 
XX 



XX 
XX 
XX 
XX 



X 
X 
XX 



XX 

XX 

XX 

X 

XX 

XX 



Mountain 
valley 
region. 



XX 
X 



X 
XX 



Southern 
California. 



XX 
XX 
X 



XX 
XX 



XX 
XX 
XX 
XX 



X 

X 

X 

XX 

XX 

X 



X 
XX 



240 Varieties of the Peach. 

The following are the peaches chiefly grown in California, 
arranged approximately in the order of ripening: — 

Briggs' Red May (California). — Originated as a chance seedling in 
nursery row, on the farm of John G. Briggs, on the Feather River, about 
one mile from Yuby City, about 1870. It was found to be about ten days 
earlier than the Early Tillotson, which was then the stand-by for an early 
peach. Fruit medium to large, round; white skin with rich, red cheek; 
flesh greenish white, melting, juicy, rich, firm enough for shipment; stone 
partially free, a standard early variety; subject to mildew. 

Alexander (Illinois). — Most widely grown as best early variety. Fruit 
medium to large; greenish white, nearly covered with deep red; flesh firm, 
juicy, and sweet; bears transportation well; pit partly free. 

Amsdeti (Missouri). — Resembles preceding, but averages smaller; 
claimed by some to be slightly earlier; rather less liable to curl-leaf. 

£"ar/v /w/^r/a/ (California).— Originated by W. W. Smith, Vacaville, 
and planted to secure a yellow freestone earlier or larger than St. John. 
Most growers find it no improvement on St. John. 

Yellow St. John (New Orleans). — Earliest yellow peach ; averages 
smaller than Yellow Crawford, but classed as large; roundish, orange yel- 
low with deep red cheek; juicy, sweet, and high flavored; freestone. 

Hale's Early (Ohio). — Medium to large, nearly round; skin greenish, 
mostly covered and mottled with red when ripe; flesh white, melting, juicy, 
rich and sweet; fair for local market and shipping; widely grown; freestone. 

Strawberry (New Jersey). — Medium size, oval; stem cavity deeply 
sunk; suture extending half way round; skin almost wholly marbled with 
deep red; flesh whitish, juicy, rich and delicate; tree healthy. 

Foster (Massachusetts). — Uniformly large, slightly flattened ; slight 
suture; stem moderately depressed; flesh yellow, very rich and juicy; color 
deep orange, dark red in the sun; freestone; tree hardy and productive; 
very widely grown in California and popular. Ripens before Early Craw- 
ford, which it sometimes resembles, but is of better quality. 

Crawford's Early (New Jersey).— Very large, oblong, swollen, point 
at the top prominent, suture shallow; skin yellow, with red cheek; flesh yel- 
low, rich, and excellent; freestone; tree very healthy and productive; 
probably the most largely planted variety in California. 

George the Fourth (New York).— Large, round, deeply divided by 
broad suture; sides unequal; skin pale yellowish white, dotted with red and 
red cheek; flesh pale, red at pit, from which it parts freely; quality good. 
Somewhat troubled with curl-leaf. 

Snow (American). — Large, globular; skin clear, beautiful, almost 
wholly white; flesh white to the free stone, juicy, rich and sprightly. 

Mary's Choice (New Jersey). — Large, yellow, resembling Early Craw- 
ford, but ripening later. 

Red Cheek Melocoton (American).— Large, roundish oval, swollen 
point at top; yellow, with deep red cheek; flesh yellow, red at stone, which 
is free; juicy, good flavor. Approved in Humboldt and San Benito 
Counties. 

Tnskena (Alabama or Mississippi).— Wrongly called "Tuscan" and 
" Tustin " Cling in this State; largely planted in interior valleys and foot- 
hills; very large yellow cling; the earliest fine cling variety; very valuable 
for early shipping. Ripens with Crawford's Early. 

Oldmixon Free (American).— Large, roundish or slightly oval; greenish 
or yellowish white, marbled with red; flesh white, tender, and excellent, 
juicy and rich; high flavor. 

Honest Abe ( California ). — " Originated at Healdsburg, Sonoma 
County. Large, yellow, with red cheek; best quality; ripens between Craw- 
ford's Early and Late. Does not curl." — James Shinn. 



Varieties of the Peach. 241 

Morris White. — Large, oval; skin white with creamy tint when fully 
ripe; flesh white to the stone, which is free; melting, juicy, sweet, and rich; 
especially good for home use and canning; somewhat subject to curl-leaf. 

Wager (New York). — Lemon yellow tinged with red; flesh yellow, 
rich, juicy, sweet, and excellent, having much the appearance and flavor of 
apricots; stone small and free from the flesh; quality best. 

Mnir (California). — Originated as chance seedling on place of John 
Muir, near Silveyville, named and first propagated by G. W. Thissell, of 
Winters. Fruit large to very large; perfect freestone; flesh clear yellow, 
very dense, rich and sweet; pit small; tree a good bearer and strong grower, 
if on rich roil, to which it is best adapted; free from curl in Vacaville district; 
fruit a good shipper and canner and peculiarly adapted to drying because of 
exceptional sweetness and density of flesh; yield, one pound dry from less 
than five pounds fresh. One of the best California seedlings. Claimed by 
some to be identical with Wager. 

Wheatland (New York). — Large, roundish; skin golden yellow, shaded 
with crimson; flesh yellow, rather firm, juicy, sweet, and of fine quality. 

Elberta (Georgia). — Very large; round-oval with deep suture; golden- 
yellow, faint red stripes; flesh yellow, fine, juicy, rich and sweet; tree prolific; 
perfect freestone. 

kNeivhall (California). — " Originated with Sylvester Newhall, of San 
Jose. Very large; skin yellow, with a dark red cheek; flesh deep yellow, 
juicy, and a rich, vinous flavor; ripens about one week before Crawford's 
Late ; tree very hardy, healthy, vigorous, and not affected by curl ; {x^&- 
stone."— yb'^'w Rock. 

Stump the World (New Jersey). — Large, strong; skin creamy white, 
with bright red cheek ; flesh white, juicy and high flavored. Commended 
for family use by Southern California Nurserymen's Association. Curls 
somewhat in some localities ; freestone. 

Crawford's Late (New Jersey). — Very large, roundish, yellow with 
dark red cheek; flesh deep yellow, juicy, and melting; flavor rich and excel- 
lent; a popular and widely-grown variety, but very subject to curl-leaf in 
some localities; freestone. 

Lemon Clingstone (South Carolina). — Large, lemon-shaped or oblong, 
having large, projecting, swollen point like a lemon; skin fine yellow; flesh 
firm, yellow with rich, sprightly, vinous subacid; slightly red at the pit, 
which adheres firmly. 

Orange Clingstone. — Large, round; suture distinctly marked and ex- 
tending nearly around the fruit; no swelling at apex, like Lemon Clirig- 
stone; deep orange color, with red cheek; flesh yellow, firm, juicy, with 
rich flavor; somewhat subject to mildew. Though largely grown, this vari- 
ety has been largely supplanted by the following sub-varieties, which are 
seedlings from it. 

Sellers' Golden Cling (California.) — Originated on the farm of S. A. 
Sellers, Contra Costa County, and introduced by James Shinn. Very large, 
rich golden color ; tree healthy ; one of the very best of clings ; ripens with 
Late Crawford. 

Rimy on' s Orange Cling (California). — " Originated with Mr. Sol. Run- 
yon, on the Sacramento River. Superior to the common Orange Cling. 
Runyon's Orange Cling has globose glands, and is not subject to mildew 
like the common sort. Fruit very large, yellow, with a dark crimson 
cheek; rich, sugary, and vinous flavor. Highly esteemed and extensively 
planted in the Sacramento region and elsewhere." — John Rock. 

Nichols' Orange Cling (California). — Originated by Joseph Nichols, 
of Niles, introduced by James Shinn. Large, yellow, with purple cheek; 
flesh yellow and good. Tree healthy and a heavy bearer. 

Peck's Orange Cling (California). — "Originated at Healdsburg, So- 
noma County. Improved seedling of Orange Cling, of Downing. Large, 



242 



Varieties of the Peach. 



handsome, yellow-fleshed, free from curl, hardy, vigorous, productive, 
superior for market or drying; planted more extensively in Santa Rosa Val- 
ley than in any other." — Luther Biirbank. 

Stilson (California). — "Originated at Marysville(?). Perfect in shape; 
very large; red cheek with crimson stripes; yellow-fleshed, more highly 
colored than Susquehanna; table and market quality excellent; ripens after 
Crawford's Late; freestone." — P. W. Butler. 

Susquehanna (Pennsylvania). — Large, nearly globular; suture half 
round; skin rich yellow, nearly covered with red; flesh yellow, sweet, juicy, 
with rich, vinous flavor; freestone; tree healthy. Very widely distributed 
and popular. 

Mc Cowan'' s Cling (California). — Originated with Dr. McCowan, of 
Ukiah. Yellow cling; round, smooth outline; no suture; no red at pit, 
which is small; flesh Arm, fine-grained, and sweet; not much subject to curl; 
fruit apt to run small unless carefully thinned; reported an irregular bearer 
in Alameda County; liked bycanners; approved in Placer County. 




Phillips' Cling — A California Seedling. 



Lovell (California). — Originated as chance seedling with G. W. Thissell, 
and named by him in 1882; propagated by Leonard Coates, of Napa. Yel- 
low freestone; size uniformly large, almost perfectly round; flesh fine, text- 
ure firm, solid, clear yellow to the pit; tree a good grower and bearer; 
superior for canning and shipping, and dries well. Said to curl in some 
places. "The richest peach I ever saw on a tray." — E. A. Bonine, Los 
Angeles County. 

McfCevitts' Cling (California). — Originated as chance seedling in apri'- 
cot orchard planted by M. R. Miller, on place owned later by A. McKevitt, 
Vaca Valley; named in 1882 by nurserymen who propagated it. A white 
clingstone; flesh very firm, fine-grained, sugary, and rich, high flavor, white 
to the pit; skin strong and fruit excellent for shipping or canning; tree 
remarkably strong in growth and free from disease. Widely distributed. 



Varieties of the Peach. 243 

Wylie Cling. — An old seedling, increasing in popularity in northern 
Sonera County as superior to Orange Cling in not splitting at the pit, and 
not dropping from the tree. A fine peach for canning and drying. 

General Bidwell {CsXiiomis.). — Originated from a shoot from a peach 
root upon which an apricot had grown and died, on Rancho Chico. Named 
by State Horticultural Society, September 4, 1886, and commended for cul- 
tivation. Ripens one week later than Late Crawford and ahead of Salway 
and Piquet's Late. About the shape of the Orange Cling, but larger; very 
yellow with reddish cheek; flesh very solid, juicy, and rich; freestone and 
a small pit. 

Califortiia; syn. Edzvard' s Cling (California). — "Originated in Sacra- 
mento. Very large, round, regular; orange, nearly covered with dark, rich 
red; flesh deep yellow; flavor delicate, rich, vinous." — C W. Reed. 

Picquefs Late (Georgia). — Large to very large; round, sometimes a 
little flattened; yellow, with red cheek; flesh yellow, melting, sweet, rich and 
fragrant; freestone; not subject to curl-leaf. 

Smock Freestone (New Jersey). — "Large, yellow, mottled with red;mod- 
erately rich and juicy. A better drying peach than Salway." — E. A. Bonine. 

La Grange (New Jersey). — Large, oblong; greenish white, some red 
on sunny side ; not desirable in coast regions ; freestone. 

Salway (English). — Large, roundish oblate; suture broad, deep, extend- 
ing beyorid the apex; skin downy, creamy yellow, rich, clear, crimson 
cheek; flesh deep yellow, red at the pit; juicy, rich, sweet, vinous; freestone; 
a standard late peach in California; tree very healthy. 

Phillips' Cling (California).— Originated with Joseph Phillips, of Sutter 
County; propagated by J. T. Bogue, of Marysville. Fine large yellow cling, 
no color at pit, which is very small; exceedingly rich and high-colored; de- 
scribed by Mr. Skinner, superintendent Marysville Cannery, as the best 
peach he ever used. 

Persian' s Cling (California.) — " Originated in Visalia, probably from 
seed of Heath Cling, and a few days earlier than its parent. Large; clear 
white skin and flesh, the latter very sweet; commended for canning." — /. H. 
Thomas, Tulare County. 

Heath (Maryland). — Described by Downing as the most delicious of all 
clingstones. Very large; skin downy, creamy white, with faint blush of red; 
flesh greenish white, very tender and juicy, with most luscious flavor; best 
adapted to interior regions, or places free from curl. 

67^^/)/ (Missouri). — "Large to very large; white skin; flesh white at 
the pit, firm, rich, and good flavor; freestone. Produces very heavy yield 
of dried fruit." — /. H. Thomas, Tulare County. 

George' s Late Cling (California). — " Originated in Sacramento. Large; 
white flesh, colored around the pit; beautiful yellow color, striped and 
splashed with bright red; a very heavy and uniform bearer; a good shipper, 
and at its season of ripening there is no peach grown in Placer County 
that yields the grower so much profit." — P. W. Butler. Subject to mildew 
in some localities. 

Yellow Tuscany {Dura cini, Tuscany). — A very large yellow cling; prop- 
agated by G. Tosetti, formerly of San Leandro; tree a strong grower and 
free from curl-leaf, very productive. On the basis of its behavior at the 
University Experiment Station at Pomona, this variety has recently been 
largely planted in southern California. It is counted the best yellow cling 
for canning in that section. Ripens with Lemon Cling. 

Albright's Cling (California). — "Originated with Mr. Albright, near 
Placerville. Very large; yellow, with bright cheek; rarely equaled in qual- 
ity and flavor. Described as larger, more highly colored, of better flavor, 
better shape, and the tree a more prolific bearer than the Orange Cling." — 
P. W. Butler. Endures long shipment well even after being well colored. 

McDevitt Cling. — "Originated with Neal McDevitt, of Placer County. 
Uniformly large; rich, golden yellow, becoming red when ripe; flesh very 



244 



Relative Ripening of Peaches. 



firm and solid, superior in flavor; excellent shipper; tree good and regular 
bearer." 

Staley (California). Very large; eleven and one-half inches in circum- 
ference; somewhat elongated and flattened laterally; rich, creamy white 
with very faint touches of light red; suture shallow, but almost continuous 
around the peach; stone small and perfectly free, cavity considerably longer 
than stone; flesh white to the pit, very juicy, fine, tender; flavor delicious. 
Originated as sucker from peach root from which prune had been broken 
off in Selma, Fresno County. Ripens twenty days after Sal way or four 
weeks after Susquehanna. A high-class white freestone. Introduced by 
F. M. Nevins, Selma. 

Levy's Late; syn. Henrietta (District of Columbia). — Above average 
size, yellow flesh, red cheek; late; clingstone. 

Bilyeti' s Late October. — "Large; greenish white with red cheek; flesh 
whitish, freestone; tree a rapid grower and attains great size; prolific bearer; 
fruit ships well, and where it will mature no peach can take its place; does 
particularly well in the foot-hills." — P. W. Butler. 

Decker (California). — Grown for eastern shipment, in Vaca Valley, 
and in Sutter and Butte Counties. 

Dates of Ripening of Leading Varieties. 

The relative ripening- of a large number of peach varieties, as noted at the Univer- 
sity Experiment Station, near Pomona, will be useful to planters in determining- proper 
succession of varieties. 



First flower. 



Full flower. 



Ripe. 



Briggs' Red May March 4 March 

Amsden'sjune March 8 March 

Alexander March 17 March 

Large Early York March 4 March 

Yellow St. John March 4 March 

Crawford's Early March 2 March 

Foster March 4 March 

Oldmixon Free March 7 INIarch 

Morris White March 4 March 

Muir March 8 March 

Susquehanna March 4 March 

Crawford's Late March 2 March 

Newhall March 4 March 

Runyon's Orange Cling March 2 March 

California Cling March 2 March 

Stump the World March 2 March 

Lovell Feb. 28 March 

Nichols' Orange Cling March 4 March 

Seller's Cling March 2 March 

McDevitt's Cling March 2 March 

McKevitt's Cling March 2 March 

Wilkins' Cling March 3 March 

Indian Blood March 5 March 

Yellow Tuscany Cling March 5 March 

Lemon Cling March 14 April 

Smock's Late Free March 4 March 

Picquet's Late March 5 March 

Staley's California March 2 March 

Henrietta March 6 March 

Heath's Cling March 7 March 

Salway March 7 March 



24 June 

25 June 

31 June 

18 July 



July 

July 

July 

July 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Sept. 

15 Sept. 15 

14 Sept. 15 

9 Sept. 18 



CHAPTER XX. 
THE NECTARINE. 

The nectarine reaches perfection under CaHfornia condi- 
tions, as does its close relative, the peach. The fruit is, in fact, 
as Downing says, only a variety of the peach with a smooth 
skin; only a distinct, accidental variety of the peach; and this is 
rendered quite certain, since there are several well-known ex- 
amples on record of both peaches and nectarines having been 
produced on the same branch. Nectarine pits usually produce 
nectarines again, but they occasionally produce peaches. Peach 
seeds occasionally produce nectarines; the Boston variety origi- 
nated from a peach stone.* All these facts which are recorded 
of the relation between the peach and nectarine have been ver- 
ified by California observation. 

The practise of growing nectarines is also exactly like that 
employed with the peach. It is propagated and pruned in the 
same ways, except that, as pointed out by Mr. Culbertson, the 
nectarine has more of a tendency to form short interior growths, 
and fruit buds are formed on the larger new growths, thus en- 
abling the pruner to cut them back more closely, and yet have 
an abundance of fruit buds remain. The peach and nectarines 
are the same in natural adaptations and requirements, and in 
diseases, so that what has been given concerning the growth 
of the peach in this State has an apt application in the case of 
the nectarine. 

The success of the nectarine worked on almond stock, as 
has been demonstrated by the experience of many, has led to 
the grafting over a good many unprofitable almond trees to 
nectarine, though this has not been done to the extent to which 
the French prune and some other plums have been worked on 
old almond stocks. 

Comparative Production of Nectarine and Peach. — It may be 
wondered, considering the similarity of the peach and the nec- 
tarine, why the former is our leading fruit and the latter is the 
least grown, but one, of all the temperate zone fruits, only the 
lowly quince being less in importance. The explanation is that 

* " Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees," p. 565. 

(245) 



246 The Nectarine Not in Favor. 

the fruit buyer, both in CaHfornia and at the East, prefers the 
peach, whetlier it be fresh, or canned, or dried, and some of 
those who have tried even a few acres of nectarines have found 
many occasions to wish the ground had been given to peaches. 
How much of this preference is due to lack of knowledge of the 
nectarine, and how much to its somewhat different flavor, it 
would be difficult to accurately determine. 

It is altogether probable that the nectarine will advance in 
popular favor. This has been prophesied for some years, it is 
tiue, the expectation being based upon the wonderful excellence 
of the nectarine as grown in our interior valleys, and the passing 
beauty of the amber translucency of the dried nectarine, both 
when sun-dried in the interior, and when produced by machine 
evaporators. The excellence of the canned nectarine has also 
figured in the anticipation. It must, however, be acknowledged 
that anticipation has not yet been largely realized, for it is esti- 
mated that the amount of dried nectarines is but five per cent, 
and of canned nectarines considerably less than two per cent, of 
the respective forms of peaches. Nor does the demand call for 
change in this proportion, for there is a sliglit advantage in the 
market value of the peach even in its great preponderance of 
supply. Still there are many who are very confident that it will 
in the future rank much higher in the California fruit product. 
It would please growers and fruit driers and canners tO' popular- 
ize the nectarine, for its smooth skin makes it as easy to handle 
as an apricot, and the beauty of the product, which certainly ex- 
ceeds that of the peach, and is rather more easily attained, is 
very gratifying to the producer, 

VARIETIES OF THE NECTARINE. 

Varieties of the nectarine, as of the peach, show different 
local adaptations, and are valued by growers accordingly. The 
varieties grown are, however, comparatively few. The following 
have been found most satisfactory in California; the descriptions 
are somewhat condensed fro-m Downing's treatise, modified to 
suit local growth, and arranged approximately in the order of 
the ripening of the varieties: — 

Advance. — Large, round, green, marked with red and brown; flesh 
greenish white; rich and well flavored. The earliest to ripen. 

Lord Napier (English). — Large, pale cream color with dark red cheek; 
flesh white, melting, tender and juicy, separating freely from stone; leaf 
glands reniform and flowers large. Especially commended as a heavy and 
regular bearer; pronounced best in flavor at Pomona Experiment Station. 

Downton (English). — Leaves with reniform glands; flowers small; fruit 
large, roundish oval; skin pale green, with deep violet red cheek; flesh 
pale green, slightly red at the stone, which is free, melting, rich, and very 
good. 

Early Newi7igto7t (English). — Leaves serrated without glands, flowers 
large; fruit large, roundish ovate, a little enlarged on one side, and termi- 



Varieties of the Nectarine. 247 

nating with an acute, swollen point; skin pale green, but nearly covered with 
bright red and coated with thin bloom; flesh greenish white, but deep 
red at stone, which adheres closely, juicy, sugary, rich, and excellent. 

Hardwicke (English). — Leaves with globose glands; fruit very large, 
roundish, inclining to oval; skin pale green, with deep violet red cheek; 
flesh pale green, slightly marked with red at the stone, melting, rich, and 
high-flavored; freestone. This variety is a favorite in southern California; 
described by the Southern California Nurserymen's Association as being 
the only satisfactory bearer. 

Boston. — Raised from a peach stone by T. Lewis, of Boston; tree hardy 
and productive; leaves with globose glands; flowers small; fruit large and 
handsome, roundish oval, bright yellow, with deep red cheek; flesh yellow 
to the stone (which is small and pointed), sweet, though not rich, with pleas- 
ant and peculiar flavor; freestone; a general favorite in California. 

New White; syn. Large W/iite. — Leaves with reniform glands; flowers 
large; fruit rather large, nearly round; skin white with occasionally slight 
tinge of red; flesh white, tender, very juicy, with rich, vinous flavor; stone 
small and free; commended wherever nectarines are grown in California, 
and more freely planted than all other nectarines combined. 

Stanwick. — Originated in England from seed brought from Syria. 
Large, roundish oval, slightly heart-shaped at base; skin pale, greenish 
white, shaded into deep, rich violet in the sun; flesh white, tender, juicy, 
rich, sugary, and delicious. 

Humboldt. — Very large, bright orange yellow vigorously marked with 
crimson, flesh orange, tender; juicy, and high flavored. Described as one 
of the best of the newer varieties. Ripens late. 

As the future for the nectarine seems to rest upon drying 
and canning of the fruit, the Hght-skinned, white or yellow- 
fieshed varieties without color at the stone, are most desirable. 
For drying there has been thus far a decided preference for free- 
stone varieties, though possibly the present popularity of cling 
peaches for drying may extend to the clingstone nectarines. 
Much color, however, either in skin or llesh, will prevent the 
production of the beautiful translucent, amber hue of the dried 
nectarine, which is attractive to consumers. Color in the flesh 
is, of com'se, undesirable in canning, because of discoloration 
of the syrup. These facts have had much to do in fixing the 
popularity of the varieties named in the foregoing list. 

At present the largest orchards of nectarines are in interior 
valley locations, which are also tine peach counties and are per- 
fectly adapted both to the growing of the fruit and to the open- 
air, sun-drying of it. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
THE PEAR. 

The oldest deciduous fruit trees in California are pear trees, 
as has already been stated in the account of fruits at the old 
missions, and some of the trees are still bearing, though it is a 
century and a quarter since their planting. The pear withstands 
neglect and thrives in soils and situations which other fruit trees 
would rebel against. It defies drouth and excessive moisture, 
and patiently proceeds with its fruitage, even when the soil is 
trampled almost to rocky hardness by cattle, carrying its fruit 
and foliage aloft above their reach. And yet the pear repays 
care and good treatment, and receives them from California 
growers, for the pear is one of our most profitable fruits. It is 
in demand for canning, for drying, and for distant shipment, 
and its long season and the slow ripening after picking allow 
deliberation in marketing, and admit of enjoying low rates for 
shipment by slow trains. The pear has not the beauty of the 
peach, nor is its handling characterized by so much clash and 
spirit, but the production of favorite market varieties at a time 
when the market welcomes them, is about as well repaid as any 
effort of the California fruit grower. 

The most obvious marks of the California pear are size and 
beauty. The most conspicuous example is the Bartlett, which 
is the pear of California, judged by its popularity, fresh, canned 
and dried. When well grown, its size is grand, and its delicate 
color, aroma, and richness unsurpassed. What extreme in point 
of size has been reached is not known to the writer, but he saw 
at the San Jose Horticultural Fair, of 1886, thirteen Bartlett 
pears grown by A. Block, of Santa Clara, which weighed four- 
teen pounds, the heaviest of the group weighing twenty-two and 
one-half ounces. Other pears have made standard sizes in 
California far in advance of their records elsewhere. There was 
in 1870 a Pound pear sent from Sacramento to the late Marshall 
P. Wilder, president of the American Pomological Society, 
which weighed four pounds nine ounces, and was reported by 

( 248 ) 



Hf''' 3^ 




Two-thirds of natural size. 

THE WINTER BARTLETT PEAR: GROWN BY G. C. ROEDING, OF FRESNO. 

See page 250. 

Originated at Eugene, Oregon, about 1870; resembles Bartlett in appear 

ance; smooth, with brown dots; tender, juicy and melting; flavor 

like Winter Nelis; very late; believed to be of 

much value for late shipping. 



Localities for iJie Pear. 249 

Colonel Wilder to be larger than anything previously recorded 
in pear annals.* Notes kept by the writer include five Vicar of 
VVinkfields weighing four pounds eight ounces; nine Easter 
Beurre weighing twenty-four and one-half pounds, the heaviest 
single specimen weighing two and three-fourths pounds; thirty- 
five Beurre Clairgeau weighing thirty-seven pounds, the heaviest 
one, nineteen ounces; Seckel pears, nine and three-fourths inches 
in circumference— Downing's figures make the Seckel five and 
seven-eighths inches around. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE PEAR. 

The pear has a wider range than the apple in local adapta- 
tions. It does as well as the apple in the coast regions, if suita- 
ble varieties are grown; it thrives far better than the apple in 
the interior valleys; it rivals the apple in the ascent of the slope 
of the Sierra Nevada, and gains from the altitude, color and late 
keeping, as does the apple. By rejecting a few naturally tender 
varieties, or by proper protection against the scab fungus {ftisi- 
cladium dcndriticnm), in regions where its attacks are severe, one 
can grow pears almost everywhere in California. 

The choice of location is governed more by commercial 
considerations than by natural phenomena. The same facts 
which make the Bartlett the favorite variety with planters, also 
should regulate the choice of locality for growing it. These 
facts were expressed by the late C. W. Reed, of Sacramento, one 
of the leading pear growers and shippers of the State, as fol- 
lows: — 

In the Sacramento Valley proper there is but one variety of pear that 
will justify extensive cultivation, viz., the Bartlett. While nearly all varie- 
ties may be grown successfully, and many varieties may be desirable for 
home purposes, yet for profitable orchards we have to confine ourselves to 
this one variety, except in high altitudes, or localities where the fruit only 
matures very late. The reason for this will be better understood by the 
inexperienced if explained. The Bartlett pear having qualities that make 
it a universal favorite for shipping, canning, and for domestic market, no 
other variety is wanted while it is obtainable. With the difference in the 
time of its ripening in different localities that are adjacent, our markets are 
supplied with this variety about four months each season, viz., July, August, 
September, and October. While this pear is in the markets, any other 
variety to compete with it must sell at very low prices. It is not only the 
great demand the Bartlett pear has over the other varieties in the markets, 
but as a healthy grower and regular bearer it has no equal. In the higher 
altitudes, where pears will keep till the Bartlett has disappeared, other 
varieties may be quite profitable, although they can never be grown to any 
similar extent. 

Of course experienced pear growers, whose taste would 
soon cloy with a continuous diet of Bartletts, and who know 
fully the superior quality of other varieties which ripen soon 



* T'lWon's Jouittal of HorticulUire, March, 1871, p. 87. An engraving of this fruit, natural 
size, was given in Pacific Rural Press, Nov. 8, 1873. 

17 



250 Popularity of the Bartlett. 

after it, would dispute the position taken by Mr. Reed, but for 
present California taste and trade he is undoubtedly correct. 
As the canners and shippers and local consumers all call for 
Bartletts, and as they usually sell at the East for nearly twice 
the price of other varieties, the choice oi location to secure a 
Bartlett, either very early or very late, is the part of wisdom, for 
either end of the season usually yields better prices than the 
middle. Some growers are even opening the Bartlett season by 
growing Clapp's Favorite, which sells well because it is taken 
for a Bartlett, and closing the season with the Winter Bartlett, 
a local variety recently introduced. The earliest Bartletts come 
from the interior valley; the next, from the valleys adjacent to 
the bay of San Francisco; the next, from the higher foot-hills 
of the Sierra Nevada; and the last, so far as present experience 
goes, although some coast and mountain situations are quite 
late, reach the market from the Vacaville district. It is an in- 
teresting fact that this district, which has long been famous for 
marketing the first early fruits, should also market very late 
ones. It is true, however, that early fruits hasten to maturity 
and late fruits are retarded. Late fruits push along until about 
midsummer, then stop growing for a month or two during the 
hottest weather, and afterwards proceed on their course and fin- 
ish up well. W. W. Smith, of Vaca Valley, has picked Bartletts 
as late as November 19, but that is unusually late. In years 
with heavy late spring rains the Bartlett ripens earlier in the 
Vaca Valley than in ordinary seasons, and when the fruit sells 
well in the East, the Bartletts are gathered green and shipped all 
through the season, as their first growth usually makes them 
large enough for this purpose. 

Though the Bartlett is in wide lavor, as stated, there is some 
progress being made in introducing other varieties, as will be 
stated in connection with the discussion of the adaptations of 
varieties. This substitution of other sorts is in part because 
the merit of others is being recognized, and in part because in 
some regions some of them are healthier and more trustworthy 
bearers than the Bartlett. 

There is produced in some situations a "second crop" of 
Bartletts which is of account, the bloom appearing upon the tips 
of the shoots of the current season's growth. 

SOILS FOR THE PEAR. 

The pear will generally do well on shallow soil and over a 
tight, clay hard-pan, where most other fruits would be unsatis- 
factory or fail utterly. The trees will thrive in clay loams, and 
even in adobe, if properly cultivated. In laying out fruit farms, 
which often include a variety of soils, even in comparatively 
small area, the pears and plums (if on the right stock, as will be 



The California Bartlctt. 



251 



seen) should be set on the lower, moister, stiffer soil, and other 
fruits on the lighter, warmer, and better-drained portions. The 
pear, however, enjoys the better situation, though it will thrive 
on the poorer. The tree seems to attain its greater growth and 
heaviest bearing on the alluvial soils of the valleys and near the 



w 




THE BARTLETT PEAR AS GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 



This is a medium-sized specimen, and was grown by James O'Neil, of Haywards, from a bud 
brought from original Bartlett stock in Massachusetts. 



252 Planting the Pear. 

banks of rivers and streams. All pears will be later in maturing- 
and have better keeping qualities if grown on a clay subsoil. 
Thus it appears that the pear will flourish whether the water is 
near or far from the surface. As compared with the apple, it 
may be said that on wet land the apple tree dies in a few years, 
or becomes worthless. On dry land it lives longer, but the fruit 
is small and tasteless, and comparatively worthless. But the pear 
tree will bear good fruit, under the same conditions, and its mar- 
ket price will average higher than that of the apple. 

It has been learned by experience that the pear will flourish 
on soil somewhat alkaline. At the University Agricultural 
Experiment Station at Tulare, this subject has been demon- 
strated in detail. It is shown that though the pear endures a 
certain amount of alkali its limit of endurance may be often ex- 
ceeded and there is little warrant to select alkali soil for pears, 
unless it be to fill a space that would otherwise be vacant in the 
orchard. If it is not too alkaline the pears will thrive. If gyp- 
sum be used in planting, somewhat stronger alkali will be en- 
dured than otherwise. 

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 

The use of dwarfing stock for the pear has been nearly 
abandoned in this State, though in early years the quince was 
largely used. The most prominent orchard on quince stock is 
that of A. Block, of Santa Clara, where may be seen dwarf trees 
set eight feet apart in squares, which are doing exceedingly well 
under his liberal system of manuring and irrigation. It is quite 
possible that, at least for gardens, we shall see in the future more 
use made of dwarf trees, but for commercial orchards there ap- 
pears no need of dwarfing. It is better to have fewer trees and 
larger ones. 

The following varieties are commended for cultivation on 
quince stock as dwarfs, experience proving them vigorous grow- 
ers and abundant bearers in suitable localities: Bartlett, Beurre 
Hardy, Doyenne du Comice, Duchess d'Angouleme, Beurre 
Diel, White Doyenne, Easter Buerre, Winter Nelis, Emile 
d'Heyst, P. Barry.* 

But, the pear is usually grown in California on its own 
roots. Tt comes into bearing early enough, and is a long- 
lived tree. Trees are grown by either budding or grafting, as 
described in the chapter on that subject. Only good seedling 
roots should be used, and not suckers from old trees. The Jap- 
anese stock, so called, bemg seedlings of the Sand pear, of 
Asia, has been used to some extent by our tree growers. 



* Catalogue California Nursery Co. 



Prirni)ig the Pear. 



253 



Distance in Planting. — If the pears are to have the whole 
ground, it is usual to plant from twenty to twenty-four feet apart 
on the square. As the tree is slower to attain size and full bear- 
ing than the stone fruits, and as it is a long-lived tree, the pears 
are sometimes set twenty-four feet with plums in quincunx. 
Peaches and apricots are also set between pears sometimes, 
when the soil chosen for pears suits them also. 



PRUNING. 

Usually the pear is grown in the vase form, as described in 
the general chapter on pruning. With regular, upright grow- 
ers, heading low and cutting to outside buds results in a hand- 
some, gently-spreading top, and effectually curbs the disposition 
which some varieties, notably the Bartlett, have to run straight 
up with main branches crowded together. The accompanying 
engravings show how a vase-form tree is developed from an up- 





Bartlett Pear after First, Second and Third Winter Pruning. 

right grower like the Bartlett, from an unbranched yearlino: cut 
back to about eighteen inches. A longer stem and more widely- 
spaced branches would be better, but the pear stands crowded 
branches better than other trees because of the strength of the 
wood. The engravings do not show relative sizes of the trees 
but merely the method of branching. 



254 Pi'uning the Pear. 

As with other fruit trees, the pear must be studied and 
pruning must be done with an understanding of the habit of the 
variety under treatment. Irregular and wayward growers, 
which, in windy places, also have their rambling disposition 
promoted by prevailing winds, often give the grower much per- 
plexity. The general rules of cutting to an outside bud to 
spread the tree, to an inside bud to raise and concentrate it, and 
to an outside bud one year and an inside bud the next, if a limb 
is desired to continue in a certain course, are all helpful to the 
pruner. But with some pears, of which the Winter Nelis is a 
conspicuous example, it is exceedingly hard to shape the tree 
by these general rules, and some growers abandon all rules, 
merely shortening in where too great extension is seen, or to 
facilitate cultivation, and trust to shaping the tree when it shall 
have finished its rampant growing period. It will be interest- 
ing to cite a few methods ot California pear growers: — 

"The Winter Nelis pear is an uncouth grower. Let the trees alone 
until they have borne a good, heavy crop, and the Hmbs come down and 
spread out nicely; this will occur in five or six years after setting. This 
will give you an idea what you want to do with the balance of the top that 
is not borne down with fruit. My plan is to cutstraggling branches, thin out 
so that the branches will not wind around each otaer, but don't cut the top, 
for you will find that the more you cut the more wood you get, and after 
the tree comes into full bearing is plenty time to head back." — A. Cadwell, 
Petahmia. 

" Our orchard is not in a very windy place, but still it is windy enough 
to throw our Nelis trees out of form. To get any regularity of shape, we 
cut off every year all the shoots growing low down on the leeward side, 
shortening in what are left as occasion may require, to an inside bud. On 
the windward side we rarely cut any branch out, but shorten in a little 
to an outside bud, frequently being obliged to cut back a strong shoot to a 
lateral which is growing outward." — Leonard Coates, Napa. 

"Itishaj^d to get a misshapen Winter Nelis tree into shape. Let the 
grower take his shears and go around the tree and examine the difficulty 
until he is conversant with it, and then commence to prune, not too heavily 
though. Cut the limbs that lean too far ' leewards ' back a little with an in- 
side bud, and train all future limbs toward the weather side of the tree; cut 
the limbs this year so the coming buds will form limbs growing in the 
direction of the weather side of the tree . But use moderation and take your 
time for it, and don't cut too many big limbs off three-year-old trees — none, 
in fact, if it can be helped. In bringing limbs to proper place, I have found 
a piece of corn-stalk the required length for the intended place, inserted 
endwise between the limb and the br^dy of the tree to be spread, to be a 
very good brace, easily made, and not likely to injure the tree." — T.E. Owen, 
Santa Cruz. 

These methods will suggest others by which one can bring 
the most irregular grower into shape. If the tree is cut at 
planting so as to form the head low, it may be safely left until 
bearing age for shaping. The tree naturally makes a viny 
growth of young wood, and the object of leaving it alone is 
tiiat one limb holds the other more upright until the main limbs 



Thinnijig and Irrigation. 255 

become large, or stiff enough to keep the shape; so they may 
be left, after being thinned out to form three to five limbs, as 
judgment may direct. Some trees will be best with three or 
four, others five. 

The experience of pear pruning just cited has been secured 
in regions more or less subject to coast influences. In the hot 
interior valleys, with the pear as with the apple, care must be 
taken to prune so as not to open the tree too much to the sun, 
but to shorten in and thin out only so far as is consistent with 
maintaining a good covering of foliage. 

The pruning of bearing pear trees is much like that of the 
apple, to be determined largely by the habit of the tree, and to 
secure a fair amount of fruit on branches with strength and stiff- 
ness enough to sustain it. 

Summer pruning will promote fruiting either in a young 
or an old tree and some practise it to secure early bearing of 
young trees, but the common practise is winter pruning to 
secure strong wood and prevent overbearing. 

THINNING PEARS. 

It is quite important to attend to thinning the fruit on 
overloaded trees. Even the popular Bartlett will often ^ivt fruit 
too small for profitable sale unless thinned. With pears, as 
other fruits, thinning should not be done until it is seen that the 
fruit is well set. Dropping off from natural causes sometimes 
thins the crop quite enough. 

IRRIGATION OF THE PEAR. 

In some situations the pear needs irrigation, though it will 
endure droiith which would destroy most other fruit trees. 
There is no profit in small, tough fruit. As stated in the chap- 
ter on irrigation the wood growth and fruit show whether proper 
moisture needs are met or not. Early pears are advanced in 
development by irrigation in some parts of the State, and this 
is an important factor in their value. 

BLIGHT OF THE PEAR. 

There are blights of the pear occasionally occurring in this 
State which are not yet fully understood, nor has their identity 
with the well-known Eastern blights been fully determined, 
though some growers claim to have recognized characteristic 
Eastern forms. They exhibit their presence by spots and streaks 
of dead bark. They are apparently of different origin; probably 
both bacterial and fungoid. The organisms have not, however. 
been definitely determined as yet. These diseases make their 



256 Diseases of the Pear. 

spread in the winter and enlarge very rapidly to a certain limit 
and there stop for the season, proceeding" or advancing from 
new centers the next year. They occur in some parts of the 
interior valley in ruinous amount and grow much more slowly 
near the coast.- Cutting back where the disease occurs on the 
smaller limbs has measurably checked the trouble, but not by 
any means put an end to it. No satisfactory treatment has be n 
demonstrated, but the use of strong Bordeaux Mixture in the 
autumn on the trunk and larger branches has been used to some 
extent and some have pronounced such application beneficial 
at least in reducing the speed of the disease. 

The scab fungus which seriously affects some varieties, and 
notably the Winter Nelis, in the coast region, is identical with 
the scab of the apple and will be mentioned in the chapter on 
tree diseases. Because of the iiabihty 01 tne Winter iNelis to 
this disease, and because of its irregular bearing in the coast 
region, there have been many trees grafted over into- varieties 
better suited to coast conditions. The Beurre Clairgeau, be- 
cause of its health, prolihc bearing, and acceptability to shippers, 
was largely introduced in this way, but it has not sold as well 
as expected. Ordinary top grafting succeeds admirably with 
the pear. Clapp's Favorite and other varieties have also been 
worked upon V\ inter Nelis. 

GATHERING AND RIPENING OF PEARS. 

Many pear growers make the common mistake of allowing 
the fruit to hang too long on the tree, instead of gathering and 
ripening in a cool, dark place. Pears should be picked at the 
first indication of ripeness, the first sign being a tendency of 
the stem to part from the spur when the pear is gently raised 
up. This test applies especially tO' the Bartlett. Picking at 
this stage and laying away in the dark ripens up the Bartlett 
well. When picked at this stage and sent overland by slow 
freight, they ripen en route and the boxes open well on the 
Eastern markets. There are a few varieties which shrivel if 
ripened under cover, but the rule is a good one, and the grower 
will soon note the exceptions. Many desirable varieties have, 
no doubt, been pronounced poor and insipid because allowed to 
ripen on the tree. 

To ripen well, pears should be packed in tiglit boxes or 
inclosed in drawers. They do not do as well as apples on 
shelves open to circulation of air. As already stated, the oily- 
skinned apple endures exposure and maintains a smooth, ruddy 
cheek and sound heart in spite of wind, rain, and rough weather. 
The pear, under similar conditions, decays rapidly. 



The Most Popular Pears. 257 

Pear Varieties Approved by California Growers. 



Varieties. 



Upper 

Coast 

valleys. 



Central 
Coast 
valleys. 



Interior 

valley 

and 

foot-hill. 



Mountain 

valley 

and 

plateaux. 



Southern 
California. 



Angouleme, Duchess 'd. 

Anjou 

Bartlett 

Bloodgood 

Bosc 

B. S. Fox 

Brandywine 

Clairgeau 

Clapp's Favorite 

Cornice 

Dana's Hovey 

Dearborn 

Diel 

Easter Beurre 

Emile d'Heyst 

Flemish Beauty 

Glout Morceau 

Hardy, Beurre 

Howell 

Kiefifer 

Lawson 

Louise, Bonne de Jersey. 

Madeleine 

Onondaga 

P. Barry 

Seckel 

Souv. du Congress 

Vicar of Winkfield 

Wilder, Early 

White Doyenne 

Winter Bartlett 

Winter Nelis 



XX 
XX 



X 

X 

XX 

XX 

XX 

XX 



XX 
XX 
X 



XX 
X 



XX 
XX 
X 

X 



X 
X 
XX 



X 

XX 



XX 

X 

X 



XX 
X 



X 
XX 



XX 
X 



XX 
XX 



X 
XX 



X 
XX 



VARIETIES OF THE PEAR. 

Though large collections of famous Eastern and European 
pears have been brought to California, the peculiarity of the 
local market, and demand for canning and shipping, has led to 
concentration upon very few sorts. The pears chiefly grown 
in California are the following, arranged approximately in the 
order of their ripening: — 

Harvest; syn. Sugar Pear (American). — Small, roundish, pale yellow, 
brownish in sun, brown and green dots; flesh whitish, rather dry but sweet; 
tree upright, young wood olive yellow brown. 

Madeleine (French).— Medium, obovate pyriform, stalk long and slender, 
set on the side of a small swelling; pale yellowish green, rarely brownish 
blush; calyx small, in shallow, furrowed basin; flesh white, juicy, delicate. 

Wilder Early (American).— Small to medium, yellow with red cheek; 
sweet, and good. Recently introduced and profitable for local sale in San 



258 Varieties of the Pear. 

Diego County. Should not be confused with Col. Wilder, a California seed- 
ling which has gone out of use. 

Bloodgood (New York). — Tree short, jointed, deep reddish brown 
wood; fruit medium turbinate, inclining to obovate, thickening abruptly 
into stalk; yellow, sprmkled with russet dots; calyx strong, open, almost 
without depression; stalk obliquely inserted, without depression, short, 
fleshy at its base; Hesh yellowish white, melting, sugary, aromatic; core 
small. 

Clapp's Favorite (Massachusetts). — Tree a strong grower; young shoots 
dark reddish brown; fruit large, slightly obtuse pyriform; pale lemon yellow 
with brown dots; flesh fine, melting, juicy, with rich, sweet, delicate, vinous 
flavor; resembles Bartlett, but lacks musky flavor. 

Dearborn's Seedling (Massachusetts). — Young shoots long, reddish 
brown; under medium size; roundish pyriform; smooth, clear, light yellow, 
with few minute dots; stalk slender, set with very little depression; calyx 
spreading in shallow basin; flesh white, very juicy, melting, sprightly. 

Lawson; syn. Comet (New York). — Medium to large, bright crimson on 
yellow ground; flesh fine, rich and sweet. 

Souvenir dii Congress (French). — Large to very large (exceeding Bart- 
lett and Clapp's Favorite, to both of which it bears strong resemblance); 
skin smooth, bright yellow when fully ripe, brilliant carmine in the sun; 
flesh resembling Bartlett, but has not the musky flavor; firm to the core; tree 
a good grower, but somewhat subject to smut. 

Bartlett (English). — Tree a strong grower, early bearer, and healthy; 
fruit large, smooth, clear yellow, sometimes with delicate blush; stalk mod- 
erately long, stout and inserted in shallow cavity; calyx open; flesh white, 
fine grained, juicy, buttery, highly perfumed (musky), vinous flavor. 

Beurre Hardy. — Large, long obovate, sometimes obscurely pyriform; 
skin greenish with thin, brown russet; stalk an inch long; cavity small, un- 
even, oblique, basin shallow; buttery, somewhat melting, rich, slightly sub- 
acid; tree a strong grower. 

Flemish Beauty (Belgian). — Large, obovate, often obscurely tapering 
to the crown, very obtuse, surface slightly rough, with some reddish brown 
russet on pale yellow ground; flesh juicy, melting, and good if picked early 
and ripened in the house. 

Seckel (Pennsylvania). — Rather small, regularly formed, obovate; 
brownish green, becoming dull yellowish brown, with russet red cheek; 
stalk slightly curved, and set in a trifling depression; calyx small and set in 
a very slight depression; flesh whitish, buttery, very juicy and melting, with 
peculiarly rich, spicy flavor and aroma. 

Howell (Connecticut). — Rather large, roundish pyriform, light waxen 
yellow, often with finely-shaded cheek thickly sprinkled with minute russet 
dots and some russet patches; stalk medium, without cavity and sometimes 
lipped; sometimes in small cavity; calyx open in large, uneven basin; flesh 
whitish, juicy, brisk, vinous. 

Duchess d' Angouleme (France). — Very large, oblong obovate; some- 
what uneven, knobby surface; dull greenish yellow, streaked and spotted 
with russet; stalk long, stout, bent, deeply set in irregular cavity; calyx set 
in somewhat knobby basin; flesh white, buttery, and juicy, with rich flavor. 

Louise Bonne of Jersey (France). — Large oblong pyriform, a little one- 
sided; glassy, pale green in shade, brownish red in the sun, numerous gray 
dots; stalk curved, rather obliquely inserted, without depression, or with a 
fleshy, enlarged base; calyx open in a shallow uneven basin; flesh very 
juicy, and melting, rich, and excellent; very prolific. 

Beurre Diet {'&e\^\\xm). — Large, varying from obovate to obtuse pyri- 
form; skin rather thick, lemon yellow, becoming orange yellow, marked 
with large brown dots and marblings of russet; stalk stout, curved in rather 
uneven cavity; calyx nearly closed, in slightly furrowed basin; flesh yellow- 



Varieties of the Pear. 259 

ish white, a little coarse-grained near the core; rich, sugary, buttery, deli- 
cious. 

W/tife Doyenne; syn. Virgalieii (France). — Medium to large, regular, 
obovate; smooth, clear, pale yellow, sprinkled with small dots, sometimes 
red cheeked; stalk brown, little curved, in small round cavity; calyx small, 
closed in shallow basin; flesh white, fine-grained, buttery, rich, and high 
flavored. 

Beurre Bosc (Belgium). — Large pyriform, a little uneven, often taper- 
ing long and gradually into the stalk; skin pretty smooth, dark yellow, dots 
and streaks of cinnamon russet, slightly red on one side; stalk long, rather 
slender, curved; calyx short, in shallow basin; flesh white, melting, buttery, 
rich, with slightly perfumed flavor. 

Onondaga; syn. Sivan' s Orange (Connecticut). — Large, obtuse, oval 
pyriform, neck very short and obtuse, body large and tapering to obtuse 
apex; flesh melting, sprightly, vinous. A vigorous, upright grower, healthy; 
yellow shoots; sells well in distant markets. 

Beurre Clairgeau (France).— Large, pyriform, but with unequal sides; 
yellow, shaded with orange and crimson, thickly covered with russet dots, 
sometimes sprinkled with russet; stalk short, stout and fleshy, inserted by a 
lip at an inclination almost without depression; when lip is absent, the cav- 
ity is uneven; calyx open; flesh yellowish, buttery, juicy, granular, sugary, 
perfumed, vinous. A popular variety for local and distant markets. 

Beurre d'Anjou (France). — Large, obtuse pyriform ; stem short, thick, 
and fleshy, in a cavity, surrounded by russet; calyx small, open in small 
cavity, russetted; skin greenish, sprinkled with russet, sometimes shaded 
with dull crimson, brown and crimson dots; flesh whitish, not very fine, 
melting, juicy, brisk, vinous flavor, perfumed; tree a fair grower, but some- 
what affected by fungus. 

Dana's Hovey; syn. Winter 6'^i-/^^/ (Massachusetts). — Small, obovate, 
obtuse pyriform; greenish yellow or pale yellow, with much russet and 
brown dots; stalk rather short; a little curved, set in slight cavity, sometimes 
lipped; calyx open and basin small; flesh yellowish, juicy, melting, sweet, 
aromatic. 

]'icar of Whikfield (France). — Large and long pyriform; pale yellow, 
fair and smooth, sometimes with brownish cheek and marked with small 
brown dots; stalk slender, obliquely inserted without depression; calyx 
large, open, set in a basin very slightly sunk; flesh greenish yellow, juicy, 
with good sprightly flavor. 

Doyennl' die Cornice (France).— Large, varying, roundish pyriform, or 
broad, obtuse pyriform; greenish yellow becoming fine yellow, shaded with 
crimson, slightly marked with russet spots, and thickly sprinkled with rus- 
set dots; stalk short, stout, inclined and set in shallow cavity, often russeted; 
calyx small, open; basin large, deep, and uneven; flesh white, fine, melting, 
aromatic. 

Glout Morceau (Flemish). " Rather large, varying in form, but usu- 
ally short pyriform, approaching obtuse oval; neck very short and obtuse; 
body large and tapering towards the crown ; often considerably ribbed; 
green, becoming pale greenish yellow; stalk stout, moderately sunk; calyx 
large; basin distinct, rather irregular; flesh white, fine-grained, buttery, 
melting, rich, sweet, and of fine flavor." — f. f. Thomas. 

Block's Acme (California seedling, by A. Block, of Santa Clara). — Large 
and very handsome, surpassing Beurre Clairgeau in size and color; regu- 
larly formed, pyriform, skin pale yellow, covered with russet all over, which 
becomes a fine glowing red on the side exposed to the sun; flesh white, 
crisp, and melting, juicy, sweet, and slightly musky; a pear that will rank 
foremost with our best shipping pears. 

Winter Nelis (Belgium). — Medium, roundish, obovate, narrowed in 
near the stalk; yellowish green, dotted with gray russet and a good deal 



26o Varieties of the Pear. 

covered with russet; stalk rather long, bent, and set in narrow cavity; calyx 
open in shallow basin; flesh yellowish, white, fine-grained, buttery, very 
melting, and full of rich, sweet, aromatic juice. 

P. Barry (California seedling by B. S. Fox). — Fruit large, elongated 
pyriform, a little obtuse; skin deep yellow, nearly covered with a rich 
golden russet; stalk of medium length and thickness, set rather obliquely 
on a medium cavity, sometimes by a lip; flesh whitish, fine, juicy, melting, 
sweet, slightly vinous, and rich. "An early and prolific bearer. Decem- 
ber to January." — California Nursery Co. The pear, P. Barry, is recom- 
mended for planting, by the Southern California Nurserymen's Association. 
It is coming into wide favor in the near coast regions, as it does not blight, 
and is approved in the interior valleys. It is, to some extent, displacing 
the Winter Nelis as a more healthy tree and a more certain bearer. 

Easter Beurre (France). — Large, roundish, obovate obtuse, often rather 
square in figure; yellowish green, sprinkled with many russet dots and some 
russet patches; stalk rather short, stout, set in an abruptly sunken, obtuse 
cavity; calyx small, closed, but little sunk among plaited folds of angular 
basin; flesh white, fine-grained, very buttery, melting, and juicy, sweet, rich 
flavor; was successfully shipped from California to England as early as 1872. 

Pound. — Large, pyriform; yellowish green with red cheek, esteemed 
for cooking; reaches enormous size in this State as already noted. 

Kiejfer and LeConte. — These pears, recently introduced as especially 
hardy varieties, are grown to a limited extent in all parts of the State, but 
are usually condemned as inferior to the European varieties which attain 
such e.xcellence in this State. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PLUMS AND PRUNES.* 

The plums of California are exceptionally fine in appear- 
ance and of high quality. Both tree and fruit have thus far 
escaped the parasites which have wrought greatest injury on the 
eastern side of the continent. The curculio has never been 
found here, and the "black knot/' thoug-h detected in some of 
the indigenous species of the genus prunus,i has never been 
observed in our orchards. The tree suffers, it is true, as do most 
other fruit trees, from minute pests infesting bark and leaf, but 
their work is a light affliction compared with the ravages of the 
curculio and black knot which Eastern plum growers have to 
contend against. Including the large planting of the last few 
years, the plum stands first in point of number among ttie fruit 
trees of California. Of the plums, at least four-fifths are those 
varieties designated as prunes. This is, of course, owing to the 
profitable shipping demand for our prune product, while ordi- 
nary dried plums have not generally commanded good prices. 
There is, however, a large trade at the East in our fine plums in a 
fresh state. Some varieties stand shipment well, and are large 
and handsome. The work of the curculio at the East opens the 
way for our fruit. By choosing varieties ripening in succession, 
the plum season extends from May to December, thus enabling 
the California plum, grower to strike the Eastern markets both 
early and late. There is also a considerable demand for plums 
by the canners, and some varieties not usually called prunes, 
but dried as prunes, sell well. 

LOCALITIES FOR THE PLUM. 

The plum has an exceedingly wide range in California. 
The trees are thrifty and profitable even from the immediate vi- 
cinity of the coast, and in coast valleys, where the sea winds 
and fogs intrude, eastward across the great interior valleys, and 
upwards upon the sides of the Sierra Nevada. In the upper 

* The prune is only a plum, having the property of drying and curing without the seed 
being removed, and making a superior dried fruit. 

t Found on prunus demissa, in Yosemite Valley and in Coast Range in San Mateo County, 
by Dr. H. W. Harkness, Report State Board of Horticulture, 1883, pp. 54, 55. 

(261) 



262 Localities for the Plum. 

halt of the State, at least, wherever there is sufficient moisture 
in the soil, good plums can be grown. The tree is quite hardy, 
but in situations open to sweep of the winds there has been 
found to be decided advantage in belts of sheltering trees for 
protection. At some points subject to direct coast influences, 
there is sometniies loss by cracking of the fruit. Only certain 
varieties are thus affected, and they can be avoided where the 
trouble is found tO' exist. 

It was for a long time held that southern California was 
not adapted to the growth of the plum, but the experience of 
the last few years has shown that the conclusion was too broad. 
The "French prune" has demonstrated its success adjacent to 
the coast in Santa Barbara County and elsewhere, in the low, 
rich lands of the Santa Ana Valley, of Orange County, in ihe 
interior at various points on the rim of the San Gabriel Valley, 
in Los Angeles County, notably at Pomona, and still farther in- 
land at points in the San Bernardino Valley. Other varieties of 
plum, especially the Japanese varieties, also succeed in the re- 
gions named, and imder similar situations, and though possibly 
all conditions of success may not yet be known, there seem to 
be no natural barriers to the success of the fruit if the trees are 
properly handled by the grower. There is, however, difficulty 
in some dry uplands where the tree is shy in fruiting and sub- 
ject to serious gumming; but this is encountered locally in all 
parts of the State. Irrigation does not always overcome these 
troubles, and yet, no doubt, the arrangement of proper moisture 
conditions is important. The tree should be helped to make one 
good growth and to ripen its wood in the fall. To have growth 
checked by drouth and a second start made later in the season 
is not desirable. 

Still it must be admitted that prune planting in the interior, 
proceeding with such rapidity, has encountered some soils and 
situations in which bearing has not been altogether satisfactory. 
New planters should confer with older residents before making 
investments in prune planting in interior valleys and foot-hills. 

SOILS AND STOCKS FOR THE PLUM. 

With the plum, as with the apricot, the subjects of soils and 
stocks are intimately related, but the whole matter has been 
wonderfully simplified by the experience of the last few years. 
This relief has come through the adoption of the Myrobalan, or 
cherry plum (Frunus Myrobalana) as a general all-around stock 
for plums and prunes. Before this practise was taken up the 
effort to grow the plum on its own roots generally resulted in 
getting an orchard full of suckers, and to avoid this, plums were 
worked on peach roots wherever this root would succeed in the 
soil to be planted. But some varieties of plvmis do not take 



The Myrobalan Plum. 



263 



kindly to the peach, and then "double working" (putting first 
on the peach a plum which is known to take well and then on 
that plum wood the variety desired) was followed. The use of 
the Myrobalan does away with the suckering nuisance and the 
need of double working. 




* There has been considerable discussion during the last few 
years as to what is the true Myrobalan, and it must be acknowl- 
edged that some of the refined distinctions which have been 
mooted do not seem to be well placed. Seedlings grown from 



264 Stocks for Phiins and Prunes. 

the seed of the Myrobalan vary as do other fruit seedhngs, both 
in fruit and in foliage and habit of trees, and perhaps this fact 
has given rise to the distinction between "true" and "false" 
Myrobalan, so called. Practise has proceeded without much 
reference to the discussion, and whether grown here, from seed 
of trees imported long ago, or from cuttings of the same, or 
whether seedling stocks are imported directly from France, as 
large quantities are, the Myrobalan of French origin is now the 
accepted plum stock for Calitornia, except in light, alluviai. well- 
drained soils, where, for the French prune, peach or almond 
may be preferred. The Myrobalan has largely displaced the 
St. Julian and the Mirabelle, as well as the peach. Though 
described by some authorities as a dwarfing stock, it is found 
to be sufficiently free growing in California to suit all purposes, 
and to form a good foundation for full standard trees, though 
the peach and almond roots in proper soils give a quicker an. I 
greater growth. 

Experience has shown that the Myrobalan stock thrives in 
this State both in low, moist, valley lands, in comparatively dry 
lands, and in stifT upland soils. Thus it has come to be accepted 
as an all-around stock for the pltim. 

In some soils especially adapted to the peach, peach roots 
are preferred as stocks for the French prune, but, as already 
said, all plums can not be worked directly on the peach root, 
the Robe de Sergeant, Columbia, Yellow Egg, and Washing- 
ton, for example. Sometimes the bud or scion may make a 
large growth, but the two woods do not unite, and the trees 
break off sooner or later. 

Some work the plum on the apricot root, and report success 
when the soil suits the apricot root, and the gophers do not get 
at it. But it sometimes happens that the French prune parts 
from the apricot root even after growing some time upon it. 
There are, however, instances of the French prune thriving, and, 
apparently making good union with the apricot root. 

Some plums do well on the almond root and some do not. 
The French prune succeeds admirably both when worked on 
young almond stocks and top grafted in old almond trees. 
Success is also reported with the Fellenberg on the almond. 
But the almond root is suited especially for warm, dry soils. 
Excellent results from the use of almond stock are reported 
from the interior valley and the Sierra foot-hills. 

Propagating by Sprouts. — The French practise of growing 
certain varieties of the plum by means of sprouts from the base 
of old trees has been successfully followed in this State by Felix 
Gillet, of Nevada City, and is strongly coinmended by him as 
securing a tree which will not gum, which is one of the reasons 



Planting the Plum. 265 

why the same practise prevails in France. This practise is as 
follows: — 

Sprouts growing at the foot of old and large trees, and but few are 
found to each tree, are taken off and planted close together in a bed to 
make them root well, and the ensuing spring planted in nursery rows, 
where they are trained like any other trees, and transplanted where to re- 
main, when branched. 

For this method it is necessary that the parent tree should 
be upon its own roots, else one is apt to get suckers from a wild 
stock. 

PLANTING AND PRUNING. 

As with other trees, there is dififereiice of opinion as to the 
best distance apart for plum trees. The present tendency is 
toward wider planting; not. nearer than twenty feet is the usual 
advice, and on rich land, tweniy-two or twenty-four feet is better. 

The plum, in California, is a most rapid grower; six to ten 
feet from the bud or graft in a season, and about as inuch after 
the first winter's cutting back, is not at all unusual. At this rate 
of progress, then, the tree soon runs up and away, ui a spindling, 
sprawling fashion, unless severely cut back for the first few 
years. Neglected trees of some varieties show long, streaming 
branches, arching outward, and exposing the bark to sunburn 
(to which it is very sensitive), breaking the tree to pieces as the 
fruit gets weight, and. even if supported by props, breaking of¥ 
at the bearing of the prop. This condition of the tree can only 
be obviated by low heading and moderate cutting back each 
year, with due regard to limiting the amount of bearing wood 
to get large fruit. For such plum varieties the suggestions on 
forming the tree and subsequent treatment in the chapter on 
pruning will be found helpful. 

Pruning the French Frniw. — 13uring the last few years, 
growers of the French prune, and other varieties of similar 
growth, have reached substantial agreement as to the best prac- 
tise. The old method of cutting back bearing trees has been 
abandoned by nearly all growers. Cutting back the young tree 
to secure sufficient low branching is followed by thinning of 
shoots from this low head so that the tree shall not become too 
dense or carry too much bearing wood. The strength in the 
head depends upon proper spacing and arrangement of the 
branches as insisted upon in the chapter on pruning; and large, 
well-ripened fruit, which is essential to successful and profitable 
drying, is conditioned upon avoiding excess of branches and ad- 
mission of sufficient light to the tree. 

A rather longer central stem is retained than in the old style. 
and a central stem throughout is admissible if one prefers it and 
does not desire to dispense with it as the first step toward secur- 

18 



Pruning the Prune. 



267 



ing a more open tree. Some retain the longer stem at planting; 
others cut back to eighteen inches, develop three side branches 
upon that and train the branch from the top bud for a length- 
ening of the stem, and bring out more branches upon that the 
second year, and then dispense with its farther extension. The 
accompanying engravings show this method of developing the 
head of a young French prune. The tree was cut back at plant- 
ing in orchard to a straight switch about eighteen inches high. 




Pruning after first summer's 
growth in orchard. 



Growth during second summer 
in orchard. 



At the end of the first summer this showed the form in the first 
picture, which is marked for the first winter pruning. The sec- 
ond engraving shows the branching developed from this during 
the second summer's growth, also marked to prune away some 
undesirable branches. Upon a tree of this form farther cutting 
back is not desirable as it has enough well-placed branches to 
form the tree. 

The tree shown in leaf represents the same tree during its 
third summer's growth and presents a fair idea of a well-shaped 
young tree, with a good outfit of well-placed branches. 

How long cutting back shall continue depends partly upon 
the locality and partly upon the notion of the owner. In inte- 



268 



Good Form of Yo7nig Prune. 



nor localities the tree grows with great rapidity and branches 
more freely. During the third summer it will bear some fruit 
if not cut back the previous winter and, where growth is so 
rapid, there is little danger of injuring the tree by early bearing. 
In the coast valleys cutting back may continue another year, 
and fruiting be thus postponed a year to get another summer's 
fieer wood growth. 



■^- ^l 









i^^ 










French Prune — Second Summer's Form. 

Though cutting back may properly cease early with the 
French prune, it is a great mistake to allow the trees to go un- 
pruned. Removal of defective wood, prevention of branch 
crowding and overbearing are of the highest importance, as 
insisted upon in the chapter on pruning. 

Special Study of Varieties in Pruning. — The points just ad- 
vanced apply especially to the management of the French prune. 
Flow far other varieties may be benefited by it must be deter- 
mined by the grower by study of the habit of the variety he has 
to deal with. The general rules for handling trees with differ- 
ent habits of growth are applicable to a certain extent to the 
plum. When to apply a rule or make an exception must be 
learned by observation and experience. Some plums, like the 



Good Branching of Prune Trees. 



269 



Silver prune, have something of the growth habit of the peach, 
and this is also very true of some of the Japanese varieties. 
Cutting back in winter and pinching in summer are both useful 
facts in securing lower branching and low-growing fruit spurs. 




270 



Poptdar Plums and Pru7ies. 



VARIETIES OF PLUMS AND PRUNES. 

As with other fruits, comparatively few varieties of the 
plum are largely grown in California, and the list is continually 
being reduced. The following tabulation is the result of a very 
wide inquiry made during the year 1899. 

Plums and Prunes Approved by California Growers. 



Varieties. 



Upper 

Coast 

valleys. 



Central 

Coast 

valleys. 



Interior 

valley 

and 

foot-hills. 



Mountain 
valleys 

and 
plateaux. 



Southern 
California. 



Abundance 

Agen, Prune d' 

Bradshaw 

Burbank 

Clyman 

Columbia 

Damson 

Duane Purple 

German Prune 

Giant 

Golden Drop, Coe's 

Golden Prune 

Green Gage 

Imperial Epineuse... 

Italian Prune 

Jefferson 

Kelsey 

Normand 

Peach 

Pond (Hungarian) ... 

Red June 

Robe de Sergeant.... 

Royale Hative 

Satsuma 

Silver 

Simon 

Tragedy 

Washington 

Wickson 

Yellow Egg 



XX 
X 



XX 
X 

X 



XX 
X 



XX 
X 



XX 

X 

X 



X 

X 

X 

X 

XX 

X 

X 

XX 

XX 

XX 

X 

XX 

X 

XX 

XX 

XX 



X 

XX 

X 

XX 

XX 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 



X 

XX 

XX 



X 
XX 



XX 

X 

XX 



XX 
XX 
XX 
XX 



XX 

XX 

XX 

XX 

XX 

X 

X 

XX 

XX 

XX 

XX 

XX 



XX 

X 

X 



XX 
X 



XX 
X 



XX 
X 



XX 
XX 



XX 

X 

XX 



XX 
XX 



X 
XX 



X 

XX 

XX 



X 

X 

X 

X 

XX 

X 

XX 

XX 



Simon {Primus Simoni). — Medium to large, roundish, flattened, with 
cavities at base and apex; brick red, small yellow spots; stalk stout and 
short; flesh yellow, adhering to flattened pit; largely grown for shipment in 
early interior regions where it has good quality; lacks flavor near the coast. 

Clyman (California seedling introduced by Leonard Coates). — Large, 
roundish oblong, flattened; suture indistinct; mottled reddish purple, beau- 
tiful blue bloom; freestone; flesh firm dry and sweet; prolific; the leading 
early plum for shipment. 

Red June (Japanese). — Medium to large, deep red, flesh light yellow, 
firm, good quality. The best of the early Japanese plums. 

Tragedy (California seedling). — Medium to large, suture shallow, wide 
and extending beyond apex; dark purple; flesh yellowish green, sweet and 



Varieties of the Plum. 



271 



well flavored; freestone. Very valuable for shipping from early regions in 
all parts of the State. 

y4(^««^a«^(? (Japanese) ; syns. Yellow-fleshed Botan, Mikado of Hinclay. 
— Large, globular with point at apex; cherry color covered with white 
bloom ; flesh yellow, juicy and rich. Popular for shipment from early 
regions. 

California Red (California seedling). — Introduced by J. T. Bogue, of 
Marysville. Large, light red, firm flesh and small pit. A good shipping 
plum. 

Peach (French, prune peche). — Very large, roundish oblate, regular, 
flattened at ends; suture distinct, shallow; color varying from salmon to 
light brownish red; stalk very short, cavity narrow, shallow, flesh rather 
coarse, juicy, sprightly, free from the nearly round, very flat, much furrowed 
stone; shoots smooth. A prominent variety for early eastern shipment. 

Royale Hative (French). — Medium roundish, slightly wider at base; 
light purple, stalk half an inch long, stout, scarcely sunk; flesh amber yel- 
low, with rich, high flavor, nearly free from the small, flattened, ovate stone; 
shoots very downy. Largely grown as an early market plum and for east- 
ern shipment. 




Pruiius Simoni. 



Bradshaw. — Large, obovate, with obtuse suture on one side, some- 
times with very slight neck; dark purple, with light blue bloom; stalk 
three-fourths inch long; cavity narrow; flesh a little coarse, becoming 
light brownish purple, at first adhering, but becoming nearly free when fully 
ripe; juicy, good, slightly acid; tree vigorous; shoots purple, smooth. Re- 
ported from Sacramento County as blooming late and seldom injured by 
frost. 

Green Gage (French).— Rather small, round; suture faint green, be- 
coming yellowish green, usually with reddish brown dots and network at 
base; stalk half to three-fourths inch, scarcely sunk; flesh pale green, melt- 
ing, juicy, exceedingly rich, and flavor excellent; shoots smooth. 

Nonnand (Japanese). — Medium to large, roundish, golden yellow; fine 
sprightly flavor even near the coast; tree excellent grower and very prolific 
and regular bearer ; one of the best of the Japanese plums. 



272 



Varieties of the Plum. 



Burbank. — Tree imported from Japan by Luther Burbank. Named 
" Burbank " by Professor Van Deman. Tree usually vigorous, with strong, 
upright shoots, and large, rather broad leaves; comes into bearing very 
early. Almost globular, being five and a half inches around horizontally, 
and five and five-eighths inches around vertically; rich cherry red, slightly 
mottled with yellow and freely dotted with same tint; flesh deep yellow, 
juicy, very sweet, and of fine, somewhat peculiar, but very agreeable flavor; 
pit is very small, three-fourths by a trifle over half an inch in diameter. 

Duane^s Purple (New York). — Very large, oblong oval, longer on 
one side; slightly narrowed towards the stalk; reddish purple, bloom lilac; 
stalk three-fourths inch; slender; cavity narrow; flesh juicy, moderately 
sweet, and moderate flavor, mostly adhering to stone; shoots very downy 
and leaves large and downy beneath. 




Wicksou Plum — Crossbred Japanese. 

Washington (New York). — Very large, roundish oval, suture obscure, 
distinct at base; yellowish green, faintly marbled, often with pale red blush; 
stalk half to three-lourths inch; slightly downy; cavity wide, shallow; flesh 
rather firm, sweet, mild, very rich and luscious, free from the pointed stone; 
shoots downy ; very vigorous. 

IVickson. — A crossbred by Luther Burbank; form suggests the Kelsey, 
but more symmetrical; in ripening, the color develops from a deep cherry 
red down to a rich claret as full ripeness is attained. The color is solid and 
uniform. The flesh is of amber tint, very juicy and translucent; the pit is 
small and shapely, the flavor is striking and agreeable, but likely to be, 
deficient near the coast. 



Varieties of the Plum. 273 

Yelloiv Egg; syns. White Egg, White Magnum Bonuni (English). — 
Very large, oval, narrow at ends, necked at base, suture distinct; stalk one 
inch, not sunk, surrounded by fleshy ring at insertion; light yellow, bloom 
thin, white, flesh firm, rather acid until fully ripe, and then sweet, adheres 
to the pointed stone. 

Prince Engetdert {Belgium). — Large, oblong oval, deep bluish purple, 
with dense bloom; stalk rather slender, with a fleshy ring at base; cavity 
rather deep and narrow; flesh juicy, melting, sweet; freestone ; shoots 
downy. Approved in Alameda, Placer and El Dorado Counties. 

Jefferson (New York). — Large, oval, base slightly narrowed, suture 
slight; greenish yellow, becoming golden, with reddish cheek; bloom thin, 
white; stalk one inch, but little sunk or not at all; flesh rich yellow, very 
rich, juicy, high flavored and luscious, adheres partly to its long, pointed 
stone; shoots smooth; tree a slow grower, but productive. 

Columbia (New York). — Very large, nearly globular, one side slightly 
larger; brownish purple, reddish brown where much shaded, with many 
fawn-colored dots; bloom blue, copious; stalk one inch, rather stout; cavity 
small; flesh orange, very rich and sweet, free from the stone, which is very 
small and compressed. Shoots downy, stout, blunt, spreading; leaves 
nearly round. 

Satsuma; syn. Blood Plum of Satsuma. — Introduced and first fruited in 
this country by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa. Described by Prof. 
H. E. Van Deman, U. S. Pomologist, as follows: " Leaves more lanceolate 
than those of Kelsey; fruit averages about two and a quarter inches in 
diameter, nearly round, and but slightly sutured on one side; surface dark 
red, under a thick bloom; dots rather conspicuous and numerous; flesh dark 
purplish red, which has caused the name ot ' Blood Plum of Satsuma' to 
be given by some; stone very small and pointed." 

Red Magnum Bonum; syn. Red Egg. — Large, oval, tapering to the 
stalk; suture strong, one side swollen; deep red in the sun; slight bloom; 
stalk one inch, slender, cavity narrow; flesh greenish, coarse, subacid; 
shoots smooth. 

Imperial Gage (New York). — Medium size, oval, suture distinct; stalk 
three-fourths inch, slightly hairy, evenly sunk; green, slightly tinged with 
yellow, with marbled green stripes; bloom copious and white; flesh 
greenish, juicy, melting, rich, and delicious, usually free from the oval, 
pointed stone; tree very vigorous and productive; shoots long, upright, 
slightly downy; leaves with slight shade of blue. A popular canning variety. 

Damson (English). — Small, roundish oval; purple, with thick blue 
bloom; melting, juicy, subacid. 

German Prune {Common Oiietsche, Germany). — " This name has been 
app'ied in this State to numerous plums and prunes which are sold 
under it. The fruit of the true German prune is long oval, and swollen on 
one side; skin purple, with thick blue bloom; flesh firm, green, sweet, with 
a peculiar pleasant flavor; separates readily from the stone."— /o/?;/ Rock. 
Complaint is made in many localities of the tendency of the variety to drop 
before ripening, almost the whole crop sometimes dropping. 

Kelsey Japan.— Trees brought from Japan by the late Mr. Hough, of 
Vacaville, in 1870, and purchased by the late John Kelsey, of Berkeley, 
who propagated and fruited them for several years. First wide distribution 
was made by W. P. Hammon & Co., in 1844, who named the fruit after 
Mr. Kelsey. The following description is by H. E. Van Deman, U. S. 
Pomologist, from California and Florida specimens: "Tree upright in 
growth, leaves narrow, twigs brownish gray. Fruit from one and a half to 
two and a half inches diameter, heart-shaped, with a distinct suture on one 
side from stem to apex ; stem is short, and set in a depression at the larger 
end; colors mixed yellow and purple, which vary in depth, but rarely make 
a brilliant appearance, covered with a bloom; flesh yellow, very firm, and 








JAPANESE PLUMS-KELSEV AND SATSUMA. 



Varieties of the Plum. 275 

clings to the stone, which is rather small, and nearly always partly sur- 
rounded by a cavity; when fully ripe the quality is very good." Very 
widely grown; is in less favor than formerly in interior valleys where color is 
not well developed. Where the fruit is of good color it is profitable for 
shipping and is highly regarded everywhere for domestic use. 

Ouackenbos (New York).— Large, oblong oval; deep purple; suture 
faint~ stalk short, slightly sunk; slightly coarse, sprightly, sweet and sub- 
acid; partly freestone. 

Victoria (English).— Large, obovate, suture distinct; color a fine light 
reddish purple; stem half inch, cavity rather deep and narrow; flesh yellow, 
pleasant; clingstone; next to Pond's Seedling in size, beauty, and produc- 
tiveness. 

Hungarian Prune; English Pond's Seedling; Grosse Prutte d'Agen 
(English).— This variety was brought to San Jose probably about 1856, and 
in some unaccountable way was first contrasted with the French prune and 
called the "great prune of Agen; " afterwards, also in a mysterious way, 
it took the name " Hungarian prune." It is still marketed by these names 
both here and at the East. The true name is English Pond's Seedling. 
Fruit very large, ovate, slightly tapering to stalk; skin thick, reddish violet, 
with numerous brown dots, and covered with handsome bloom; rather 
coarse, juicy, sweet; a very showy fruit; tree a strong grower and prolific 
bearer; fruit has a tendency to double; sells well in local and distant 
markets on its style. 




I-niiiMMl I piiiousi.' .IS ('■rown by John Rock. 



Giant.— Bmh?^nk seedling; very large, dark crimson upon yellow 
ground; flesh yellow, flavor good; freestone. A shipping plum, rather 
disappointing as a drying plum. 



276 The Popular Prunes. * 

Splendor. — Burbank seedling; medium size but larger than French 
prune; clear red, drying dark, does not shake from the tree; earlier than 
French prune. 

Sugar. — Burbank seedling, introduced in 1898; very large and very 
early lor a prune; sugar in fresh fruit 23.92 per cent; very promising. 

Imperial Epineuse; syn. Clairac Mauiinofh. — Introduced in 1884 by 
Felix Gillet and in 1886 by John Rock. Described by Mr. Rock as follows: 
"Uniformly large size, reddish or light purple, thin skin, sweet ai.d high 
flavor." Described by Mr. Gillet: " Uniformly large, more oval than the 
French prune; nearly of the same color but somewhat lighter or reddish 
purple; earlier than the French and with thinner skin." Fruit grown by 
Mr. Rock analyzed at the State University in 1898, showed 20.4 per cent of 
sugar against 18.53 P^f cent average of three analyses of French prune. 
Very profitable as lar as tried, as a large dried prune, and very largely 
planted and grafted in, in the Santa Clara Valley. 

There has been quite widely planted another prune called Imperial 
which is very inferior in sugar content and likely to prove mucti less 
satisfactory. 

Prune cV Agen; syn. Petite Prune d'Agen; French Prune, etc. — This is 
the drying prune at present most widely grown in this State. It is described 
by John Rock as follows : "Medium-sized, egg-shaped, violet purple, very 
sweet, rich and sugary; very prolific bearer." The first trees of the kind 
were grown by Louis Pellier, at San Jose, about the year 1857, the graft 
having been brought from France by his brother in December, 1856. The 
identity of this variety (which was first largely grown in the neighborhood 
of San Jose) with the variety chiefly grown in the French district tributary 
to Agen, was first announced by W. B. West, of Stockton, in the year 1878, 
during his visit to France. Since that time there has been much discussion 
of the matter, and Mr. Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, has been to great pains 
to send samples of our fruit for examination by fruit experts. The conclu- 
sion at which Mr. Gillet arrives, is as follows: "Our Petite prune is a true 
type of the d'Ente, its botanical characters being identical, and the fruit 
as richly flavored and sweet as that of its French ancestor." 

Robe de Sergeant. — Though this term is given in Downing as a synonym 
of Prune d'Agen, and seems also to be in French a synonym for the d'Ente 
prunes; another prune grown in this State from an importation by John 
Rock, is quite distinct from the foregoing. Mr. Rock describes the variety 
as follows: ' ' Fruit medium size, oval; skin deep purple, approaching black, 
and covered with a thick blue bloom; flesh greenish yellow, sweet, and 
well-flavored, sugary, rich and delicious, slightly adhering to the stone." 
This variety makes a larger, darker-colored dried prune than the Prune 
d'Agen, and has sold in some cases at a higher price. It has recently been 
in disfavor in coast valleys for defective bearing, but is more satisfactory at 
some interior points. 

Bulgarian. — "An undetermined variety grown under this name, chiefly 
in the vicinity of Haywards, Alameda County; above medium size; almost 
round; dark purple; sweet and rich, with pleasant acid flavor; tree a vigor- 
ous grower, and an early, regular, and profuse bearer." — John Rock. 

Coe's Golden Drop (English). — Very large, oval, suture distinct, one 
side more enlarged, necked; light yellow, often dotted red to the sun; stalk 
three-fourths inch, rather stiff; flesh yellowish, firm, juicy, and rich, closely 
adhering to the pointed stone; shoots smooth, rather glossy. A standard 
late variety for canning. 

Silver Prune (Oregon). — Originated with W. H. Prettyman, who says: 
" It is a seedling from Coe's Golden Drop, which it much resembles, but it 
is much more productive." Profitable as a bleached prune, but defective 
in bearing in some California districts. 

Golden Prune. — Originated from seed of Italian prune by Seth Lewell- 



Varieties of the Plum. 277 

ing, of Milwaukee, Oregon, and described by him as larger than Italian; 
light golden color; exquisite flavor; dries beautifully. 

Bavay's Green Gage; syn. Reine Claude de Bavay (French). — Large, 
round oval, greenish yellow, spotted with red, with small violet-colored 
longitudinal veins; flesh rather firm, juicy, sugary, rich, of fine quality, 
adhering slightly to the stone; shoots smooth, leaves roundish, shining; a 
free grower and very productive. 

Ickworth Imperatrice (English). — Large to medium, obovate, purple, 
with irregular streaks of fawn color; stalk medium; flesh greenish yellow, 
sweet, juicy, rich, mostly adhering to the rather small stone; shoots smooth; 
very late, hangs long on the tree, and keeps well; endures long shipment 
well. 

Fellenberg; syns. Large Gertnan Prune, Swiss Prune, Italian Prune. — 
Medium size, oval, pointed and tapering at both ends; suture small, distinct; 
dark purple, with dark blue bloom; stalk one inch, scarcely sunk; flesh 
greenish yellow, juicy, sweet, delicious, parts from the stone; tree a free 
grower and very productive; late, excellent for drying. But little grown in 
California, but largely in Oregon. 

Coe's Late Red; syn. Red St. Martin — Size medium, roundish, suture 
distinct on one side; skin light purplish red, or dark red; bloom thin, blue; 
stalk three-fourths inch, scarcely sunk; flesh rather firm, crisp, rich, vinous; 
very late; shoots downy. 




The Giant Plum of Burbank. 
LUTHER burbank' S NEWER VARIETIES. 

Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, during tlie last few years 
introduced many new varieties not included in the foregoing 
list, which possess striking characters and some of which will 
become famous. They must, however, endure the test of trial 
and await later credit. Seedlings by other growers are also 
undergoing a similar ordeal. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
THE QUINCE. 

The quince enjoys California conditions to the utmost, and 
rewards the grower with large crops of very large and beautiful 
fruit. A quince weighing a pound is no curiosity, and it is un- 
likely that any city of the world can show such fine quinces at 
such low prices as San Francisco. The lesson from this fact is 
that the fineness of the fruit, and the evident adaptation of the 
State to its growth, should not alone be considered by the 
planter. The local consumption of quinces is naturally small, 
and it is chiefly for home preserving and jelly making. The 
commercial jelly makers use apple juice as the basis of nearly 
all their jellies, only using a little quince for flavoring, and some 
housewives follow the same course. The hope for profitable sale 
of the fruit in large quantities must therefore rest on distant mar- 
kets, and though those well acquainted with the growth and sale 
of the fruit in the cities of the Mississippi Valley, have predicted 
a great demand for the California quince in that territory, expe- 
riences of shippers thus far have been varied, and not such as 
to induce the extension of our quince production, at present at 
least. 

But though the quince in California has at present narrow 
commercial limitations, a few trees shovild find a place in every 
orchard, for family use or for local sale. 

CULTURE OF THE QUINCE. 

The quince is readily grown from cuttings. Take good- 
sized shoots of well-matured wood of the current year's growth, 
after the leaves drop in the fall, and set out at once in nursery 
row in moist, alluvial soil, or in any loose soil which is well 
drained and can be kept moist enough by cultivation or irriga- 
tion. 

Quinces are planted at all distances apart, and are grown 
either as bushes or trees. Undoubtedly the best way is to plant 
about fourteen or sixteen feet apart, and prune into low standard 
tree form. This can be done much as already advised for other 
fruit trees. An annual cutting back of about half of the new 

(278) 



The Pineapple Quince. 



279 



growth, while forming the tree, will strengthen the trunk and 
limbs and prevent the running out of long leaders, which droop 
to the ground on all sides when laden with fruit, and are often 
broken by the weight and the wind. Owing to the disposition 
of the quince to throw out several small shoots at a single point, 
it is advisable, when forming the tree, to remove all buds but 
one, just as the growth is starting. This will give one good, 
strong branch where it may be needed, instead of several weak 
ones. Pinching off shoots which start out too vigorously, or at 
.undesirable points is, of course, advisable. 




The Pineapple Quince of Burbank. 



Soils for the Quince. — As the quince grows naturally in 
moist, though not wet, lands, many persons think it always 
does best in springy ground or along the banks of rivulets; but 
though moist soils are preferable to dry, such positions are not 
essential to obtaining large crops of fine fruit. In fact, the 
quince, like most fruit trees, prefers a well-drained location, and 
does best on a soil which can be freelv worked. It thrives when 



28o Other Quince Varieties. 

fanned by the ocean breeze and does fairly well in the interior, 
providing it has moisture enougli in the soil, and in some situa- 
tions will doubtless require summer irrigation. 

VARIETIES OF THE QUINCE. 

Though notably all varieties of the quince are introduced 
by our nurserymen and carried by them in small stock, most 
plantations are of the "apple" or "'orange" variety. The fol- 
lowing may be enumerated, however, as growing in this State: — 

Apple or Orange. — Large; bright yellow; the best. August and 
September. 

Portugal. — Very large, and fine flavor, turns a fine purple or deep 
crimson when cooked. 

Rea's 3Taminoth. — A very large and fine variety of the Orange quince; 
a strong grower and very productive. 

Champion. — Fruit very large, fair and handsome; tree very productive, 
surpassing any other variety in this respect; bears abundantly when young; 
flesh cooks as tender as an apple, and without hard spots or cores; flavor 
delicate, imparting an exquisite quince taste and odor to any fruit with 
which it is cooked. 

The Chinese Quince. — A most extraordinary fruit, oblong, of immense 
size, often weighing from two to two and one-half pounds; growth rapid 
and distinct. 

West's Mammoth. — Originated by W. B. West, of Stockton, from seed 
received from Boston in 1853; of the Orange quince family; round; clear 
yellow; very large; fine flavor and for the class a very good keeper. 

Pineapple. — Originated by Luther Burbank and distributed by him in 
1899; the result of a long effort to secure a quince which would cook tender 
like an apple. The name comes from its flavor, which is suggestive of the 
pineapple. 



PART FOURTH: THE GRAPE. 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

VINE PROPAGATION AND PLANTING. 

The culture of the grape is one of the great branches of 
CaUfornia horticuUuie. Its three chief divisions are: Grapes for 
the table, grapes for wine, and grapes for raisins. In all these 
branches tiie product has far exceeded local requiremtnts and 
has become an important item in the export trade of the State, 
and yet, though grape products have reached large amounts, 
the producers are still confronted with problems in the growth 
of the vine and in the manufacture and marketing of its products 
which will require the fullest devotion, the keenest intelligence, 
and the brightest spirit of enterprise, to bring to satisfactory 
solution. The attainments of the industry can be measured by 
the statistics of the shipments of grapes, raisins, wine, and 
biandy, which are given at the close of Chapter VI. During re- 
cent years, owing to the spread of phylloxera in certain regions, 
the fact that the raisin product had apparentlv reached the limit 
of the consuming capacity of available markets and the depres- 
sion in the wine interest, the grape acreage of California has 
decreased from the figures of a decade ago. The outlook at the 
close of the century has, however, some very encouraging 
features. 

THE GRAPE AREA OF CALIFORNIA. 

The grape has a very wide range in California. If the im- 
mediate seacoast and the higher altitudes on the mountains be 
excepted, the grape may be planted with a good chance of suc- 
cess anywhere if soil and local topography be suitable. As has 
been shown in Chapter I, the vine can approach quite close to 
the ocean if some shelter from prevailing cool winds be afforded, 
and quite high on the mountains if one keeps out of depressions 
where late frosts are frequent. In plantmg the grape in doubt- 
ful situations much depends upon choice of proper varieties. 
For example, in the cool air of the coast region and the short 

(281) 
19 



282 Localities for the Grape. 

summer of the higher altitudes, early maturing varieties must 
be the main reliance, for late sorts will not receive heat enough 
to bring" them to lull maturity. 

Away from immediate coast influences, and up to perhaps 
three thousand feet or more on the sides of the Sierra, the grape 
is sucessfuUy grown both upon the fioors of the valleys and 
upon the hillsides. But there is still need of choice both of 
special locations and of varieties according to the purposes which 
the grower has in view. The coast valleys of the upper part of 
the State produce good table grapes, but they are unfavorable for 
the raisin industry because of tlie deficient simshine and excess- 
ive atmospheric humidity of the autumn months. The best rai- 
sins are made in the dry, heated valleys of the interior, and the 
conditions which there develop the fullest quality in the raisin 
grape also develop the sugar in some kinds of wine grapes be- 
yond a desirable percentage. Here again the choice ot suitauie 
varieties intrudes itself, for the varieties which yield light table 
wines in the coast valleys may yield heavy "heady" wines in the 
interior. Valleys, too, as a rule, although they yield larger crops 
of grapes and greater measure of wine than similar area on the 
hillsides, must yield the palm for quality to the warm soils of the 
slopes. And here enters the business proposition whether large 
amount and less quality is better than less amount and higher 
quality. To this there can be no general answer. It depends 
upon the disposition which is to be made of the crop, and the 
demand for it. 

These few facts out of many v.diich could be stated will 
serve to enforce the fact that wide as is the range of the grape, 
both localities and varieties for certain purposes must be intelli- 
gently chosen. Much has been learned during the last few 
years, but it will require the experience of another generation, 
perhaps, to make the matter clear. 

Soils for the Grape. — The grape will thrive on a great va- 
riety of soils, in fact, on any of those enumerated as fruit soils 
in Chapter III. There are thrifty vineyards on the light, deep 
valley loams, on the heavy clayey loams, on adobe, and on the 
red soils of the foot-hills. Even on shallow soils the grape will 
do well if given sut^cient moisture, and on rocky subsoils it 
thrives if there be crevices for the roots to penetrate, or if the 
rock be shattered to admit the roots to permeable substrata. 
Standing water during the active period of the vine is, however, 
unfavorable to growth, and alkali is adverse to satisfactory re- 
sults in wine making. Almost any soil which does not hold ex- 
cess of water or is not tainted with alkali will do for the vine, 
although the plant appreciates good, deep soil, and will grow 
and bear fruit in propoition to its supply of it. Of course the 



Growing Seedling Grapes. 



283 



economic question 01 ease of cultivation enters into the choice 
of soil for the grape, as for other fruits, but its claims are ob- 
vious and need not be enlarged upon. 

Length of fhc Grape Season. — By choice of early and late 
varieties the grape season extends over a half year in California, 
without recourse to artificial means of preservation. Where the 
fall rains are not very protracted, the late varieties keep in good 
condition on the vines until the winter pruning. Good grapes 
have been picked from the vines as late as the middle of January. 

PROPAGATING AND PLANTING VINES. 



The grape is propagated from seed or by layers, or by cut- 
tings of various lengths. Growing from seed was somewhat 
resorted to in California to get stocks for resisting the phyllox- 
era, but such wide variation in resistance occurred in seedlings 
that propagation by cuttings, of varieties demonstrated to be 
best in this regard, has become universal. There is at present 
little disposition to grow grape seedlings in the hope of securing 
better and hardier varieties, as is so largely done in other parts 
of the country. The vast numbers of varieties of the European 
species, vinifcra, which we have to draw from, makes the eflfort 
for new seedlings of little object. 

Grotving Vines from Seed. — Seed is easih' removed from 
grapes by crushing the berries and stirring the pulp rapidly in 
water. Professor Husmann says that one pound of good, fresh 
seed will give from two to three thousand seedlings. Some ad- 
vocate sowing grape seed in the fall, just as it is taken from the 
fruit, but best results are u'sually obtained by 
spring sowing, after danger from frost is over. 
It is advisable to keep grape seed moist for some 
time before sowing. Seed soaked one week in 
water, and afterward allowed to lie in a heap for 
three weeks germinates quickly, starting in ten 
days or two weeks after being put in the ground. 
Professor Plusmann advises pouring hot water on 
the seed and allowing it to cool, the seed remain- 
ing in the water for twelve hours, and after that it 
is kept for a week in a sack, exposed to the sun, 
and covered at night, the sack being moistened 
from time to time. 

The seed should be sown in the open ground, 
the soil having been worked deeply and finely, 
Growth from Sin- as for a garden. Sow the seed about an inch 
^ ^ ting.*^"'' apart, in drills far enough from each other to 




284 



Layeriyig t/ie Vine. 



admit oi the use of the cultivator in the summer; cover not to ex- 
ceed an inch in depth, and after moderate pressing of the ground, 
cover the whole bed with rotten straw, which should be gradually 
removed as the sprouts appear above the ground. This mulch 
will not only retain moisture, but will prevent the surface from 
being crusted by heavy showers. Summer cultivation with cul- 
tivator and hoe should be given. 

Growing Vines by Layering. — This is another method of 
multiplying vines which is but little employed in California, 




Layering to Multiply Vines. 



because it is so much easier to secure plants by cuttings, as the 
vinifcra species roots so readily. Layering consists in bending 
down and burying a cane so as to facilitate top and root growth 
from each of the buds. The engraving shows an old vine stump, 
one of the lower canes of which has been layered, and from which 
shoots are expected, as shown by the dotted lines. To hold the 
cane in place, stakes are used. The engraving shows the cane 
as just ready to start into growth, the filling of the trench being 
deferred until the lateral shoots grow out considerably, and then, 
by covering, the roots are developed. The cane must rest in 
moist earth, and usually has to be watered artificially, as well as 
treated to prevent evaporation. The following winter the cane 
is raised and a plant made at each node. 

Another use for layering is to fill a vacancy in the row, a 
cane being taken from the nearest living vine, as shown in the 
engraving. In this case the layer must be set in a deep trench 
so as not to be torn out by the plow, and the layered cane is at 
once covered in with earth, all but one or two buds at the ex- 
tremity, where the new vine is desired. In the engraving the 
cane is given a twist arovmd the old stump so that it may enter 
the ground where it will not be caught bv the cultivator. Such 



Vines Grozvn froin Cuttings. 



285 



a layer usually bears the second year and is then detached from 
the parent vine. 

Both the layers described are laid down early in the spring, 
before growth starts in the vine. Summer layers of the current 
season's growth are sometimes made, but are not usually satis- 
factory. 




Layering; to Fill a Vacancy. 

Groiving Vines from Cuttings. — This is the prevailing 
method in this State both to secure grafting stocks and to grow 
vines on their own roots. In growing from cuttings, dififerent 
policies are adopted, i. e., placing the cuttings m permanent place 
in the vineyard, or rooting them in nursery to be afterward 
transferred to the vineyard as "rooted vines." First, the various 
kinds of cuttings will be considered, and their placing mentioned 
later. 

Grozvth from Single Eyes. — The use of single eyes or single 
buds, the shortest possible form of cutting, is not large in Cali- 
fornia, but some growers have reported good results. The 




Single Eye Cutting 

method is to prepare the cuttings as shown in the engraving, 
and plant them carefully, with the bud upwards, in well-prepared 
soil, covering the cutting completely, but very little under the 
surface. Success depends upon retention of moisture in the 
surface soil to induce rooting, and mulching is advisable. The 
method of propagation, too, seems best adapted to the moister 
parts of the State, whence, in fact, most success with it has been 



286 



Vmes Grow /I from Cuttings. 



reported. Besides economy oi" wood in getting a plant from 
each bud of the cane, which is sometimes an object, growing 
from single eyes is advocated because of the satisfactory root 
system secured, which, as the engraving shows, much resembles 
that of a seedling. The use of single eyes is obviously better 
adapted to nursery than to field growth. 

The Use of Longer Cuttings. — There are several kinds of 
cuttings generally recognized by vine growers, of which two 
may be specified, as follows: The ordinary cutting consisting 
wholly of the wood of the previous season's growth and a cut- 
ting which retains more or less of the older growth. Where the 
cutting retains a small cross-section of an older cane, it is termed 
a "mallet cutting." from its obvious r'^semblance thereto, as 
shown at B in the engraving. Some hold that this round piece 
of old wood is undesirable because it is apt to decay, and they 




Difterent Forms of \'ine Cuttings. 

restrict the old wood to the top fragment, which carries the dor- 
mant buds at the base of the cane. Such a cutting is shown 
at C in engraving. 

Though the use of the old wood is correct enough in theory 
and satisfactory m practise^ it is the ordinary cutting, shown at 
A. in the engraving, which is relied upon in vine propagation. 
There is, however, wide difference in opinion and practise as to 
how long this cutting should be to secure the best results. Or- 
dinary cuttings, as used in California, vary in length from ten 
inches to three feet. Clearly enough this disagreement is due 
in part, at least, to different local conditions under which the 
vine is to make its growth, but two things are generally ac- 
cepted as the result of California practise, and this is, perhaps, 
only confirmatory of experience abroad: First, that the tendency 
is toward the use of shorter cuttings than formerly; second, that 
where the longer are used, they should l)e set obliquely, so as 
not to bury the lower extremities too deeply in the ground. 
What distance is too deep depends, to a great degree, upon tlie 
soil and locality, for a cutting will grow good roots at a much 



Rooting Cuttifigs. 287 

lower level in the light, warm loams of the interior valleys than 
in any other soil or situation, and longer cuttings are used in 
the interior than in the coast regions. The usual length of cut- 
tings is from eighteen to twenty inches. 

Making and Caring for Cuttings. — Cuttings can be taken 
from the vines at any time after the fall of the leaf and before 
the spring flow of sap begins. The earlier cuttings — those 
taken before January — are more likely to make a successful start 
and after-growth than those cut later in the season. 

It is common, however, to defer pieparation of cuttings till 
the pruning is done, be it early or late, and this will generally 
answer the purpose, if care be taken to secure the cuttmgs im- 
mediately at the pruning; but if the branches be allowed to lie 
upon the groinid for days, exposed to sun, wind, or frost, before 
the cuttings are secured, their chances of growth are seriously 
lessened, and a good part of tlie failures in planting are due to 
such cuttings. 

Cuttings should be taken from short-jointed, well-ripened 
wood of the previous year's growth, cut squarely and smoothly 
just below a bud. Cuttings from the middle or top end of 
branches are not so likely to root, nor to grow so vigorously, as 
those from the butts or ends nearest the old wood. 

Keep them dormant until tlie time comes to set them in 
the vineyard, else the tender shoots may get broken. To keep 
them back, place them, at the pruning, in shallow trenches, top 
down, on the north side of a close board fence or a building, 
cover the butts with loose earth, and over that throw some straw 
and boards. Take care that the trenches are in moist but not 
wet ground, as too much moisture rots the cuttings. If the 
ground should not be moist enough, or if the cuttings seem 
dry or withered, plunge them in water to within three or four 
inches of their top, for a few days before setting, and do not let 
ihem dry again before planting. 

Rooting Cuttings in Nursery. — What has been written is in 
reference to cuttings designed for placing in permanent posi- 
tion in the vineyard, but, for the most part, applies as well to 
the preparation of cuttings for the nursery. For nursery treat- 
ment, however, shorter cuttings can be used than for field plant- 
mg, because of the better cultivation and more generous mois- 
ture conditions which are usually provided. 

In preparation of ground for the rooting of vines and the 
planting of cuttings therein, the suggestions in Chapter VIII 
are directly applicable, as, to secure rooting of the cuttings, there 
is just as great need for deep and fine working of the soil, press- 
ing of it around the cutting, and for careful culture during the 
growing season, as there is for such treatment of fruit-tree seed- 
ling or root graft. It is just as necessary, too, that the rooted 
cuttings should be carefully lifted and guarded from drying out 



288 



Cuttings or Rooted Vines. 



while on the way from the nursery to permanent place. The 
reader is, therefore, referred to Chapter VIII for suggestions on 
preparation, laying out, and care of nursery ground intended for 
the rooting of grape cuttings. 

To secure vines upon resistant roots recourse has recently 
been made by some growers to the cutting-graft which will be 
mentioned presently. 

There is a growing tendency to use rooted vines instead of 
cuttings in planting out vineyard, for, although the former cost 
several times as much as the latter, either in the time of the 
grower or in cash outlay, the balance is believed to be usually 
on the other side, when the uniform stand and more satisfactory 
growth secured by rooted vines are considered. 

BUDDING AND GRAFTING THE GRAPE VINE. 

Working over the grape-vine is largely practised in this 
State and is easilv accomplished. The occasion is twofold: 
Replacing undesirable varieties with those of better quality, or in 
better market demand, and in bringing the vinifera varieties 





Inlaying a Bud in a Vine Cane. 

upon roots which resist the attacks of the phylloxera. The em- 
ployment of resistant stocks has proved eminently satisfactory 
in this State, the resistant stock having been successfully installed 
even in the hole from which the dead vinifcra root has been taken. 
For this reason resistant roots are largely relied upon in the 
planting of new vineyards in infested districts, and are also used 
in regions where the insect is not now found, by those who fear 
and desire to provide against its coming. 



Budding the Grape 



289 



Budding the Grape. — Buds can be readily made to grow in 
grape canes, though budding is not largely used. Success can 
be had with the same method of budding that is common with 
fruit trees as described in a previous chapter. Insert the bud 
in the spring as soon as the bark will slip well on the stock, and 
before the run of the sap is too strong. Keep the cuttings in a 
cool place so their growth will be retarded, and then seize upon 
just the right condition of the stock, insert the bud under the 
bark of a cane of the previous season's growth, tie it around 
with a string, and the bud starts readily without further treat- 
ment. When its growth shows its ability to take the sap, the 
top of the stock is removed. 

Another method of budding the vine is by inlaymg a piece 
of wood with the bud, as shown in the engraving. The use of 
a narrow waxed band would probably be desirable with this 
style of budding. It takes considerable ingenuity to make a 
good fit of bud and stock for inlaying, and it is but little done. 
It ofifers a way, however, to rapidly multiply wood of some de- 
sirable variety, by securing a cane from each bud. 

Grafting the Vine. — drafting in old vine roots is a simple 
operation, and is performed in various ways. The principles 
involved in vine grafting are similar to those affecting tree 
grafting, as described in Chapter IX. The processes employed 





Making the Side Cut into the Vine Root. Adjustment of Scion to Stock. 

are also similar, but the graft requires less binding and covering, 
because it is usually made beneath the surface ot the ground, 
a.nd is, therefore, less subject to accident, exposure, and drying 
out. 

Grafting in the Old Stump. — This is resorted to when the 
character of the vineyard is to be changed. Out of the many 



290 



Cleft Grafting the Vine. 



ways for working into old stumps, two are given below, as those 
most commonly employed in this State. The first is called "lat- 
eral cleft grafting" and introduces the scion by a side cut into 
the stock without splitting across. The earth is removed from 
the old vine down to its hrst lateral roots, and the top is sawed 
off cleanly a few inches above the first laterals. A cut is then 
made into the side of the stump with a knife and mallet, as is 
shown in the figure. The scion is then cut long enough so that 
one bud will remain above-ground when the surface is leveled 
again, the bottom of the scion being given an oblique wedge- 
shape, so as to fit the crevice in the stock. Some care is needed 
in shaping the wedge of the scion. A fit like that shown in A 
in the sketch will not succeed, while one in which the surfaces 
are in contact, as in B, will give good results. 









Common Cleft and Lateral Grafts. Scion in Position. 

The manner of inserting the scion is shown by another en- 
graving, which also pictures a wedge which is used to force the 
cleft open a little. If the cut is well made and the end of the 
scion so adjusted that the stock will pinch it when it is pushed 
into place, nothing more will be needed except to smear over 
the cut surface of the stump and the joint of the scion and stock 
with clay or with a mixture of two parts clay and one part fresh 
cow manure. If the scion is held firmly and sealed in with this 
mixture, it usually needs no tying, and the hole can be carefully 
filled with loose earth, with a strong stake to mark the place of 
the graft, and to which the new growth can be securely tied 



Suggestions on Grafting. 291 

afterwards. Another common method is to spht the stump 
across its center and insert one or two grafts, as shown in the 
figure. If two are used and both grow, the weakly one is after- 
ward suppressed. In this cross cleft graft some grafters rely 
upon the stock to hold the scion without tying, and daub it over 
with the clay mixture, care being taken to fill and cover the split 
in the stock to exclude water. Others put a ligature around 
the split stump, as shown in the engraving. Strips of cotton 
cloth answer well for this purpose. Tying oilers better security 
from knocking out the graft with the cultivator. 

In grafting into very tough old stumps, some growers leave 
a slim wedge of wood in the cleft with the scion to prevent the 
stock from closing too forcibl}' upon the scion. 

Side Grafting. — Side grafting the vine is commended by 
some growers. It consists in inserting a graft by a cut mto the 
side of the stock, the method being essentially the same as that 
employed with fruit trees, as described in Chapter IX, except that 
in side grafting the vine the top is not amputated, but is allowed 
to bear its crop and is then removed the following winter. The 
next summer the scion will bear a crop, and the vine is worked 
over without cessation in its bearing. 

Herbaceous Grafting. — This term is applied to a graft in 
which the scion of the current season's growth is set by a cleft 
_graft into canes also of the current season's growth, while both 
scion and cane are elastic, but not too soft. The method has 
not been usually successful in this State, apparently because of 
the dryness of the summer air. 

Cars of Scions. — Scions should be kept cool and moist 
enough 10 prevent drying but not wet enough to cause decay, 
as has already been described in the keeping of cuttings. 

Time of Grafting. — Grafting is done in February, March, 
and April in different parts of the State, March being the month 
usually chosen for the work. If a spring graft fails, the stump 
may be regrafted in August or in the following spring. In re- 
grafting, the stump is cut ofif again below the previous cleft. 
The time for the work is when the sap has ceased flowing, usu- 
ally from the first to the tenth of August. 

The recourse to resistant roots to escape the phylloxera has 
been attended with some disappointment because the wild roots 
at first widely used proved only partially resistant. Recently, 
in the main through employment of French selected varieties of 
the American wild species, stocks with satisfactory resistance, 
larger growth and vigor and adaptation to different California 
soils have been secured. Notable success has been attained in 
the habilitation of vineyards on the basis of resistant roots. The 
University Experiment Station, at Berkeley, has maintained 
leadership in this direction by publication of information and by 






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Resistant Vines. 



293 



distribution of resistant roots for trial. Explicit information 
can be had free by application to the University. 

Resistant Varieties. — American wild vines are characterized 
by every marked differences in deg^rees of resistance to phyllox- 
era, and especially in adaptability to soils. Not only do species 
differ in this respect, but varieties of the same species show 
widely dififerent characteristics. As a result of the process of 
selection varieties have been secured which are far above the 
averao^e of the species in vis^or of Q^rowth and development, de- 
gree of resistance and general suitability for resistant root pur- 
poses. Of the few varieties which have thus demonstrated par- 
ticular excellence in France and have given notable indications 
of success in California, are the following:— 

For soils likely to become somewhat dry in summer — the 
Rupestris "St. George." 

For deep, moist and tolerably rich soils, Riparia "Gloire de 
Montpellier,'' and "Grande Glabre," 

For heavy, low lands, even if slightly alkaline, hybrid 
"Solonis." 

The Lenoir, Herbemont and a few others are praised by 
local growers. 

The Cutting Graft. — Grafting the desired variety upon a 
resistant cutting and then planting the grafted cutting in nurs- 
ery for rooting is an accepted French method which is being 




\Vhip Graft with Earth Mound 

successfully employed in California. This has advantage in 
time gained and in securing a full stand of vines as compared 
with grafting upon cuttings already rooted in place in the vine- 
yard—though the latter is successfully practised. An adjacent 
engraving shows the rooting of cutting-grafts in the nursery. 

Grafting on Resistant Sfoeks after Rooting. — Graftin"^ on 
resistant roots dififers from working in old stumps in the size of 



294 Laying Out Vineyard. 

the wood to be operated on, and in the fact that the graft must 
be set lugner up because it is not desirable to iiave tlie scit^i 
strike roots of its own, for the obvious reason that depending on 
such roots would make the vine no longer resistant. The ad- 
vantage of covering the graft with earth is, however, still to be 
enjoyed, for the earth can be raised in a little mound around the 
graft, to be removed when the graft has taken well. For this 
reason grafting on resistant roots is usually done at or near the 
surface of the ground. 

The common cleft graft is used when the stock is large 
enough to give a split strong enough to hold in the scion, in 
grafting smaller stocks the whip graft is used, as shown in the 
accompanying engra\ing, which represents the stock, tiie scion, 
and the two after iiisertion and tying, with the dotted line to 
show the mound of earth made to keep the graft from drying 
out. This graft is variously treated. It is covered with clay 
by some, by others with grafting wax; but the common experi- 
ence is that grafting wax makes too tight a joint, and holds in 
surplus sap, which begets disease. The use of a wax band spe- 
cially adapted to ruling conditions has proved very successful, 
but the easiest and usually most satisfactory way is to wind with 
soft twine or raffia which will decay and loosen as the graft en- 
larges. 

LAYING OUT THE VINEYARD. 

Vines are planted in rectangles, generally in squares, but 
sometimes at a less distance in the rows than the rows are from 
each other. I'he stakes which are to represent the future vmes 
are in either case placed by the same methods of measuring or 
marking off. All the methods described for clearing and pre- 
paring lands, in Chapter VTI, and for laying off ground in 
squares, described in Chapter X, are applicable to vineyard 
ground. The measuring wire therein described is the means 
usually employed for laying off. A special contrivance which 
has been used to some extent on level ground is thus described: 

The marker most in use is made in the form of a sled, sixteen, fourteen, 
or twelve feet long, with three runners so placed as to mark rows eight, 
seven, or six feet wide. These runners should be made about three feet 
long, of some hard wood (Oregon pine will do), two inches thick and firmly 
nailed to two planks placed upon them of the lengths first above named. 
Upon these should be bolted two strong pieces of joist in the form of wagon 
hounds projecting in front far enough to receive a stout pole like a wagon- 
tongue, well braced and fastened with an iron rod. Care must be taken 
that the motion of the machine is steady and true in all its parts. With a 
well-made marker, a gentle team, and a careful driver, excellent work may 
be done. 

Distance of Plaiifuig. — There is as much difference of opin- 
ion and practise in fixing the distance between vines as between 
orchard trees, but usually more room is given than formerly. 



Laying Out Vineyard. 295 

Planted in squares, the distance varies from seven to ten feet, 
with eight feet as most prevalent, taking the State as a whole, 
iianting in rows is also adopted to some extent. Such plan- 
tations are made with the vmes seven by ten or eight by ten 
feet, four and one-half by eleven feet, etc. There is great vari- 
ation in the distances. Some advantages of the row system 
are as follows: Greater space to spread trays for raisin curing; 
plowing can be done with double team and larger plows; the 
brush can be gathered and burned between the rows instead of 
carrying it to the avenues; sulphur and materials for spraying 
can be brought in by team to any part of the vineyard; empty 
boxes can be distributed and tilled ones gathered up without 
carrying, etc. Planting in rows recoinmends itself not only for 
planting new vineyards, but also for changing old vineyards 
from seven by seven feet to three and one-half by fourteen feet, 
or from eight by eight feet to four by sixteen feet, giving op- 
portunity to change from a linifcra root vineyard to a resistant- 
root vineyard. This can be accomplished by planting resistant 
roots in the alternate rows to be preserved, right between the 
two old vines. 

Number of Vines to the Acre. — However the vines be set, it 
is very easy to calculate the number of vines which an acre will 
accommodate. Multiply the distance in feet between the rows 
by the distance the plants are apart in the rows, and the product 
will be the number of square feet for each plant; which, divided 
into the number of feet in an acre (forty-three thousand five 
hundred and sixty), will give the number of plants to the acre. 

Avenues in the llneyard. — For convenience of access with 
team and wagon tliere should always be avenues through the 
vineyard. They are usually arranged so as to cut up the vine- 
yard into blocks about twice as long as broad, if the vineyard 
be on level land. Of course, or, liilly lands the avenues should 
be located for ease of hauling. The avenue is made by leaving 
out a row ol vines, and, therefore, the exact size of the block will 
depend upon the distance between the rows. Some advise hav- 
ing not more than forty vines between the avenues. Planting 
in rows, with wide spaces between the rows, renders fewer ave- 
nues necessar3^ 

PLANTING CUTTINGS AND ROOTED VINES. 

Various means are used for planting cuttings. An essential 
condition to successful growth is to have the lower part of the 
cutting well embedded in the soil, as it will not root unless in 
close contact with the earth. To lack of care in this regard 
most failures are due, and for lack of surety that such contact is 
made the various contrivances for speedv planting, such as 
the planting bar, are widely condemned; an excavation of the 



296 Planting Vines. 

hole and refilling with line surface earth, just as advised in 
Chapter XI, for planting orchard trees, is commended as the 
safest practise. Much, however, depends upon the soil. In 
loose, free soil such a use of bar or "sheep's-foot" as will be pres- 
ently described may be satisfactory, while it would be imprac- 
ticable on firmer soils, both because of the difficulty of insertion 
and because the packed condition caused by the forcing in would 
not favor root extension, and not desirable on shallow soils be- 
cause the contact of the better surface soil with the bottom of 
the cutting will stimulate the growth of the cutting, and is, 
therefore, very desirable. The planting by direct thrust is ob- 
viously impracticable when horizontal planting of a long cut- 
ting is desired, as will be described later. 

The post-hole auger and a device for taking out soil as a 
'"trier" takes out a sample of cheese or butter, have also been 
used to some extent, but not widely, in making holes for cuttings. 

Planting Bar and Sheep's-foot. — The following methods, de- 
scribed by Dr. Gustav Eisen as prevailing in the raisin districts 
of the San Joaquin Valley, on sandy, loamy soils, will well il- 
lustrate similar methods wherever followed: — 

The planting bar consists of a bar of hard iron, sharpened at the lower 
end and furnished with a cross-handle at the other. The length of the bar 
is about three and a half feet, width about two and a half inches, and thick- 
ness a third to half an inch. If less than this the bar will bend. The 
planting is done by pushing the bar perpendicularly in the ground. After 
withdrawing it, insert the cutting and push it down to the bottom. Fill up 
the hole by again inserting the bar in the ground close by and pressing the 
flat side against the hole. 

The sheep's-foot consists of a round rod with cross-handle at the upper 
end. The lower end of the rod is slightly flattened, bent, and forked. The 
planting is done by fitting the forked end over the butt-end bud of the cut- 
ting, and immediately pushing cutting and rod together to the desired depth 
in the soil. A slight twist is now given to the sheep's-foot. This loosens 
it from the cutting and allows it to be withdrawn. A tamp with the foot 
fills the hole. Great care must be taken in withdrawing the sheep's-foot, 
lest in doing so the cutting should be drawn out also, and this will leave a 
fatal air chamber at the lower end. The slight twist given the rod before 
withdrawing loosens it and leaves the cutting undisturbed. 

For planting in dry situations some careful planters run 
water and fine earth into the hole made by the bar after insert- 
ing the cutting; others run in tine sand dry and then pour on 
water. In using water in this way one must take care that he 
does not use adobe earth, for a succeeding dry spell may bake it, 
and the cutting wn'll be worse ofif than if not puddled. 

Planting Long Cuttings. — Where the long cutting, planted 
more or less horizontally, is adopted, the method of the late G. 
G. Briggs. one of the largest giape planters of the interior val- 
leys, may be foUovv^ed. This is his description of his practise: — 



Planting Vines. 297 

I make my cuttings of wood of the previous season's growth, about 
three feet long. I lay out vineyard with a plow, crossing furrows at right 
angles at the distance desired for the vines. At the intersection of the fur- 
rows, dig holes twenty inches deep and twenty inches long, and the width 
of a shovel. The holes should be dug all on the same side of the furrows, 
or in a corresponding angle of the intersecting furrows. The butt of the 
cutting is placed from the intersection; bringing the top at the exact inter- 
section, with two buds above the surface. The end of the hole at the inter- 
secting part must be perpendicular, so as to give the top of the vine a 
perpendicular position from the elbow of the vine at the bottom of the hole. 
To make this elbow when the vine is placed, slip the foot on the cutting and 
cover with soil and tramp down. I have found this mode of planting the 
most successful. It gives a larger amount of roots than perpendicular 
planting, and the roots are low enough below the surface to be out of the 
reach of ordinary drouth, and the same time none are so deep as to be 
cold and slow of action in circulation. In covering, be careful to place the 
soil close about the perpendicular part of the cane, and up full with the 
general surface, but back from this part the hole may be left in the form of 
a sink, to catch and hold moisture during the first rainy season. 

Planting Rooted Vines. — Planting rooted vines is governed 
by the same rules commended for planting trees in Chapter XI, 
so far as preparation of holes, care in placing and firming the 
soil around the roots, etc., is concerned. In handling rooted 
vines there must be greater care in packing and transporta- 
tion to prevent the loots from drying, and in carrying to the 
field it is generally advised that the plants be kept in a pail or 
other receptacle with water. The vine roots are very small and 
tender, and success will largely depend upon good care of them. 
At planting all dead roots should be trinnned away and the top 
reduced to a single cane cut back to tw^o eyes. 

When to Plant. — The exact time to plant can not be stated, 
for the condition of the soil and the local season-points are the 
best guides. Planting can be done much later as a rule in the 
coast regions tlian in the interior, because the soil is usually 
later in getting into good condition of mellowness and warmth, 
and the late rains are usually heavier. It is certainly not ad- 
visable to place cuttings in cold, wet soil, and dry soil will quickly 
destroy their vitality. The suggestions given in Chapter XI 
should be carefully considered. The planter must use good 
judgment in choosing his time for planting, aided in forming it 
by the best local experience he can get. 

Cultivation of Vmeyaid. — General suggestions concerning 
the cultivation of the vineyard have already been given in Chap- 
ter XIII, preceding. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

PRUNING AND CARE OF THE VINE.* 

Most of the varieties of vinifera grown in California at pres- 
ent thrive under the short pruning system. There are exceptions, 
however, which will be noted later. The prevalence ot the short 
pruning system frees our growers from the expense and incon- 
venience of trellises. Though in the early years of the vines 
stakes are used, our older vines stand by themselves and are as 
independent of supports as are our fruit trees. The vines are, in 
fact, shaped upon something the same model as our fruit trees, 
the so-called "goblet form" of the French being our prototype. 







Fig. I. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. 

Various Growths of Vines before First Pruning. 

An effort will be made to describe briefly how this form is at- 
tained. 

First Year. — During its first year in the vineyard the cut- 
ting is allowed to make all the growth possible without interfer- 
ence. After the fall of the leaves the following winter, the vines 
will be found to have made varying amounts of growth, accord- 
ing to individual vigor, as shown by the accompanymg engrav- 
ing, ranging from Fig. i, which is a good growth, down to Fig. 
4, which is a feeble growth. In these figures d represents the 
wood of the cutting which was planted with two buds above- 



* A general discussion of the pruning of the vine, with due consideration of all the ends to 
be attained by different pruning policies, is beyond the unavoidable limitations of this treat- 
ise. The literature of the subject is large, and any one who aims to make a specialty of the 
grape will of course seek other sources of information. Bulletin 119, of the University Experi- 
ment Station, Berkeley, is a suggestive exposition of the subject. It is the aim of the writer 
merely to give a few suggestions which will aid the beginner or one who designs to grow a 
small area of vines in connection with other fruits. 

( 298) 



Pruning for Goblet Form. 



299 



ground; a is the loAvest shoot of each, which, in the first three 
instances, Figs, i, 2 and 3, should be cut back to two buds, and 
all the other shoots removed entirely, leaving, however, the old 
stem d in each case, as it is -useful to tie the new shoots to during 
the following summer. In the case of the feeble growth. Fig. 
4, the shoot b is to be removed and a allowed to stand as it is, in 
the prospect of its picking up strengLh and making growth 
enough to be cut back to two buds at the end of the next season. 
Thus it appears that usually all the vines can not be brought 
to uniform condition at once, but some will require a year or two 
more than others in the shaping process, because of the inherent 
weakness of the individual, or because some of the vines may be 
set in a spot of the vineyard less favorable to growth. 






Fig. 5. 



Fig. 6. 
Vine at Second and Third Pruning. 



Fig. 7. 



Second Year. — During the second summer, vigorous vines 
will send out shoots five feet or more in length, accordmg to the 
inherent strength of the variety or the favoring situation, and ot 
these the most upright and vigorous should be selected to serve 
as the foundation of the future trunk. It should be cut back so 
that the second bud from the top of the part that is left shall 
mark the height desired for the first fork of the coming goblet- 
shaped head. This cane should be tied to a stake and all other 
buds save the three at the top rubbed ofif. All other canes 
should be closely cut away. The engraving, Fig. 5, shows at a 
the cane to be chosen to form the future vine, while b and c are 
to be cut away cleanly. 

At this point practise varies in this State, Instead of rub- 
bing ofT the lower buds, as advised, some growers allow laterals 
to grow below the future head and the laterals bear fruit and. are 
afterwards cut away. The result is that a trunk is afterwards 
formed with scars from the removed laterals instead of smooth 
trunks, which are secured when the lower buds are rubbed away. 



300 Priaiing for Goblet Fo7'm. 

The grower has to decide whether this fruit is worth more to him 
than the healthier and more vigorous vine, which will probably 
be secured by dispensing with this early fruit 

Another point of difference enters here, and that is the choice 
of height at which the head of the vine shall be tormed. By the 
head is meant the pomt at vvhich the lowest branches emerge 
from the main stem, and not the tops of the highest spurs, w^hich 
some call the head of the vine. The question is, then, At what 
point shall the oldest or lowest forks be formed? Experience 
favors low-heading on hillsides and on broad valley vineyards. 
The grapes are brought near to the warm, dry soil, which, with 
raisin and table grapes, at least, is desirable because the radia- 
tion of heat from the sun-heated soil during the night gives a 
more uniform heat during the twenty-four hours, and, by bear- 
ing its fruit low and supporting part of it upon the ground, the 
vine is less afifected by wind. But this very low heading is not 
desirable on moist soils because of mildew, nor is it safe on low 
ground where frosts are likely to form. For this reason in 
broken country where vineyards run from the hillsides down 
into small valleys, it is usual to head the vines on the low ground 
higher than on the hillsides. 

Third Year. — During the third summer canes will grow 
fiom the vines something as shown in Fig. 6, and considerable 
fruit will be borne. Sometimes all these canes are allowed to 
grow through the season, but it is better practise to rub off other 






Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 

The Vine at Fourth and Subsequent Prunings. 

shoots when two or three vigorous ones can be selected to form 
the main branchings of the trunk. It is also customary to pinch 
oft the main shoots after they have grown out a foot or so. 
This pinching results in the growth of leafy laterals which shade 
the fruit and add to the stockiness of the main canes. At the 
winter pruning which follows, these two or three main canes are 
cut back to two or three buds, the greater number of buds being 
left on the more vigorous vines. All other shoots are cut away 
cleanly. This operation fixes the first fork of the vine head, as 
shown in Fig. 7. 



Stump Priming. 



301 



Fourth, Year. — The fourth summer most vines will put forth 
a number of canes and bear a g^ood crop of fruit, though some 
varieties are later in bearing. The same treatment is given the 
vine as during the preceding summer, and at the following 
winter pruning each branch is allowed to retain two spurs of 
two or three buds each, according to the strength of the vines, 
as aforesaid. Thus the vine which was left as in Fig. 7 at the 
third pruning becomes the form shown in Fig. 8 at the fourth 
winter pruning. 

Subsequent Pruning. — After the fourth year the pruning 
proceeds upon the same plan, the number of branches or spurs 
being increased as the vigor of the vine seems to warrant, until 




A Stump-pruned Vine. 

the trunk shows the goblet form, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. 
From year to year the number of buds left on the spurs depends 
upon the ability of the vine to produce the fruit and make a 
healthy growth. 

Stump Pruning. — Short or spur pruning is also followed 
without systematic effort to build up a symmetrical trunk, 
branching in goblet shape, as has been described. In such 
practise the vine is usually headed as soon as a strong cane is 
thrown out about as high as the top of the trunk is intended to 
be, and year after year shoots are selected from those emerging 
near the top of the stump. Irregularly-branching heads are 
thus formed, continually crowding upward, and are kept within 
bounds much less easily than low-heading branches. The en- 



302 



Long Pruning ivith Stakes. 



graving shows a stump-pruned vine with some canes cut short 
and some long, according to a system which will be mentioned 
presently. 




Tlionipson's Seedless Long Pruned.— W. R. Nutting, Fresno. 

In stump pruning there is a difference of practise as to low 
heading according to locality. In the interior regions the vine 
is now headed almost at the surface of the ground; in the coast 
regions there is usually a stump of one to two feet or more. As 
with trees so with vines, the practise is to prune to make lower 
heads than during the early years of California fruit growing. 

Lo'iig Pruning. — Some varieties grown for market and for 
raisin making do not thrive if pruned by the short-spur system. 
Notable among these are the Sultana, Thompson's Seedless, 



A Renewal System. 303 

Emperor, and Sabalskanski. There are also a number of wine 
varieties which must be pruned long-. Long pruning admits of 
degrees, but it usually signifies using a five or six instead of a 
four-foot stake and leaving the selected canes from eighteen 
inches to three feet or longer instead of cutting back to two or 
three buds, as in short pruning. These long canes are securely 
tied to the long stakes. 

With varieties needing long pruning the first two or three 
buds next the old wood do not bear fruit, hence the need of 
leaving buds farther removed from the old wood to secure it. 
This habit of the vine invites the practise of growing a long cane 
for fruit and at the same time providing for wood growth for the 
following year's fruiting by cutting another cane from the same 




An Instance of Long Pruning. 

spur down to two or three buds. By this practise the wood which 
has borne the fruit is cut back to a bud each winter and the cane 
which has grown only wood is pruned long for the fruit of the 
following summer. A modification of the practise is to prune the 
canes from some of the spurs long, and from other spurs short, 
thus making the spurs alternate from wood bearing to fruit bear- 
ing from year to year. Sometimes instead of using a long stake 
the long cane is brought over the top of the vine and lashed to 
the trunk on the other side; or two or more canes are thus 
brought over from side to side and tied securely at their cross- 
ing. The engraving shows one style of long pruning, which 
illustrates the cutting to long and short canes, and will suffi- 
ciently indicate the system. The number of long canes to be 
left to the vine depends on its vigor, and this can only be learned 
by experience. 

Grape varieties which do not succeed with short-spur prun- 
ing are generally grown on long stakes, as stated, but use of the 



304 



Long Pruning with Trellis. 



trellis is increasing, especially among growers of Thompson's 
Seedless, in the interior valley and is also employed in the coast 
valleys for varieties which seem to thrive better when lifted 'from 
the ground. The engraving shows long pruning with renewal 




Long Pruning with Renewal Spurs and a Trellis. 

short canes trained upon trellis, and an accompanying plate 
shows the trellising of Thompson's Seedless in a large vineyard 
near Fresno. 

The ChaxvArc System. — This is another method of long 
pruning, which was introduced in California about fifteen years 
ago, but has never been widely adopted. It is of P'rench origin, 
the term en chaintre meaning ''trailing chains." It consists in 
growino; lon^ canes, which, when fruiting, are supported upon 
short, forked stakes, so that the clusters hang within a few inches 
of the ground, as shown in the engraving, which represents a 
branch of a chaintre-trained vine in fruit. 

Materials Used in Training Fines. — The chief item of cost 
in vine training is the stakes. The best stakes are of California 
redwood* which is exceedingly durable. The cost of four-foot 




-^ ___ .^s . ■ ' "^K . vf!* , " *-*« ViiPV": 
The Chaintre System of Long Pruning. 



stakes for short pruning is about $12 per thousand and for five 
and six-foot stakes for long pruning about $15 to $18 per thou- 



Summer Care of Vines. 305 

sand, free on board cars in the redwood regions in Sonoma and 
Santa Cruz Counties. 

Vint-s are tied with "grape twine," old cable (bought at the 
junk shops in San Francisco), with wire, with the tough leaves 
of the New Zealand tiax, and with withes of ozier willow. Both 
of the last-named materials are now grown for home use by. 
many vineyardists. Professor Husmann strongly commends 
No. 16 annealed galvanized wire for making the upper ties of 
young vine stumps to stakes, and uses the other materials for 
the lower ties and for fastening up growing canes. 

Grape-vines should be tied tightly to the stake. By 
"tightly" is meant tight enough to prevent a chafing motion, 
without compressing the cane. The object of tying up vm ■ 
to prevent their being blown about by the wind and the break- 
ing of the canes. Some, however, tie loosely, and are careful to 
.have the vine on the leeward side of the stake. Split stakes 
should have the corners rounded to prevent chafing of canes. 

SUMMER PRUNING AND SUCKERING. 

Summer pruning or topping of vines is usually practised. 
Some follow the pinching process, by which the terminal of the 
growing cane is nipped off with the thumb and finger when it 
has grown out about two feet. Others wait longer and then 
slash off the ends of the canes with a sickle. The tendency is to 
leave summer pvuning until too late and to slash off wood indis- 
criminately, to the injury of the vine. Summer pruning, if done 
early enough, and this would be while the growth is still soft at 
the point of removal, will induce the growth of laterals and will 
shade and improve the fruit, and at the same time thicken the 
growth of the main cane and strengthen its connection with the 
spur. Slashing of canes too late in the season deprives the fruit 
of the service of enough leaf surface foi' the elaboration of the 
sap, often seriously checks the growth of the vme, and in hot 
regions induces sunburn. The first summer pruning should be 
done soon after the bloom. The second could take place when- 
ever the canes or laterals extend beyond the length necessary 
to shade the grapes. 

Suckering is an important process and usually has to be at- 
tended to at least twice in the season. It consists in removing 
all shoots from old wood which are not provided for at the pre- 
vious winter pruning. The growth of these suckers takes sap 
which should go to the other canes. All such shoots should be 
rubbed or pulled off while they are still soft ; if a sucker puts out 
at a point where it would be desirable to have a spur to balance 
the head of the vine, it should of course be allowed to grow, to 
be cut back to two buds the following winter. By such selection 
of suckers new spurs are secured to replace old and failing ones. 



3o6 General Siiggestions. 

GENERAL NOTES ON PRUNING. 

Longer or shorter pruning produces effects not only upon 
the amount and early ripening of the fruit of certain varieties, 
but upon quality, as shown in the wine. Such effects have to be 
discerned by local observation. 

It is a very difficult matter to lay down any rule for pruning 
a vineyard, so much depends on the age of the vines, the differ- 
ent varieties, and the qualit}- of the soil. A basis on which to 
build a theory on the subject might be found in and through an 
understanding of the quantity ot grapes that may be expected 
from a vine, as the secret of pruning is to keep a just medium 
between the production of grapes to the injury of the vine and 
its wood and an overproduction of wood to the detriment of the 
crop. In older vines a proportion should be maintained between 
the vigor of the vines and the crop desired; each bud may be 
considered good for two bunches of grapes the ordinary size, and 
upon this estimate may be obtained. It must be borne in mind 
that the result of overloading the vine is detrimental to its vigor 
and health, while the reverse will not injure it, but will lessen the 
profits for that season', often giving greatly increased returns in 
after years. 

Close attention should be given to the growth of the wood 
and fruit of the preceding year. If the canes are very large and 
the bunches of grapes poor and there are many suckers, it indi- 
cates that more eyes are necessary. On the contrary, if the canes 
are small, and the bunches of grapes numerous and straggling, 
and the ripening not even, it indicates that the number of eyes 
left should be less. 

Pruning should also be regulated to produce a good second 
crop of grapes or to prevent tlie formation of a second crop. 
The second crop is often desirable in raisin and table varieties, 
but undesirable in wine varieties. 

Attention should be paid to the tools used in pruning. Let 
the blades be kept sharp and thin; large shears are very apt to 
bruise the wood more than small ones. 

Pruning is done after the fall of the leaves and before the 
swelling of the buds, usually in January and February. Early 
pruning has a tendency to make the vines start growth early, 
consequently in frosty situations pruning is often deferred till 
late in the Vvnnter — as late as the middle of March in some cases. 
In such situations it is advised to leave more buds at pruning, 
so that if the frost kills the first shoots there are buds below to 
make later growth. This practise has been followed with marked 
advantage in some regions liable to late spring frosts. 

The treatment of vines injured by spring frosts is clearly 
the immediate removal, by a sharp downward jerk, of the frosted 



Sulphuring Vines. 307 

shoots. P. C. Rossi, a large vineyardist, recites this experience, 
both in the San Joaquin and Santa Rosa Valleys. 

^TtLWe had all the vines affected by frost entirely stripped of the damaged 
shoots, and we had the pleasure of seeing that, in a short time after, all the 
dormant buds came out finely, with their regular two bunches of grapes; 
therefore we have lost only one-third of the crop. In order to make care- 
ful experiment we left a row of vines untouched, and the result proved that 
the vines that were not stripped did not do as well' as the others, as the 
dormant buds in many cases did not come out, and those that came out 
were not healthy and strong, and hardly had any grapes. The damaged 
shoots that were not removed died gradually, and at the junction with the 
cane new shoots came out without any grapes at all. The result clearly 
proves that we will have fully two-thirds of the crop out of the frost-bitten 
vines which were stripped of the damaged canes, while we had hardly any 
first crop and only a second crop on the vines which were not attended to. 

DISEASES OF THE VINE. 

One of the most prevalent diseases of the vine in California 
is caused by a. fungus which affects leaves, canes, and berries, 
and is locally known as '"'mildew." This disease is recognized 
by grayish white coloring of the afifected leaves, which, as the 
disease progresses, shrivel and dry up; the young cane also 
blackens and dries, and the berries show whitish patches, which 
become darker colored and the berries crack open. The usual 
remedy for the trouble is finely-ground or sublimed sulphur 
applied several times during the season. The application is 




The Sulphur Bellows. 

made with a "dredge" or a bellows. The dredge is a tin cylin- 
der with a handle at one end like that of a "sugar scoop" and the 
opposite end perforated finely. Another form resembles the 
spout of a watering-pot, the sulphur entering through the 
handle, and tine gauze covering the face instead of perforated 
metal. By a proper movement of the arm the sulphur m the 
cylinder is thrown against the perforated end, and enough finds 
egress from the small holes to shower the vine. The dredge is 
best fitted for use on small vines or for use early in the season, 



3o8 Other Vine Diseases. 

when the growth is just starting from the stump. When larger 
spread of sulphur is desired, the bellows may be used. The 
remedy should be a little in advance of the disease, and in regions 
where the mildew appears regularly, sulphur is applied about as 
soon as growth starts in the vine, a second application about 
blooming-time, and a third when the berries are the size of 
peas. 

The Bordeaux Mixture and other copper preparations are 
sometimes useful upon grape-vines, as will be cited in the chap- 
ter on plant diseases. 

Coulurc. — A frec[uent misfortune of the vine, and for which 
no remedy is yet known, is cculure, a tenii signifying the failure of 
the fruit to set or to remain on the cluster. This occurs in vary- 
ing degrees from the loss of a few berries to the almost complete 
clearing of fruit from the stem. It is worse with some varieties 
than others and in some localities than others. The trouble is 
believed to arise from various causes. 

There is, also, occurring with more or less frequency, a red- 
dening and death of the vine leaves, supposed to be identical 
with the trouble known to the French as ''rougeole." The leaves 
show light-colored spots at first, which afterward turn red and 
finally involve the whole leaf or cane, and sometimes the whole 
vine. It usually occurs in midsummer, and is not necessarily 
fatal in its efifccts. 

Root Knot. — An evil occurring on the main stem of tlie vine, 
generally near the surface of the ground, is an excrescence of 
woody character commonly called "black knot." There has 
Ijeen much discussion as to the cause of this abnormal growth, 
without full agreement among observers. Some attribute the 
Icnots to injuries to the stump in cultivation, others to outbursts 
of sap which the short priming system does not give top growth 
enough to dispose of, and to various other causes. This is an- 
alogous to the "crown knot" of fruit trees which will be mentione;l 
in the chapter on plant diseases. 

Anaheim Disease. — There has prevailed for several years a 
mysterious disease of the vine in southern California, known as 
the ''Anaheim disease," because its evil work first appeared in 
that vicinity. It destroyed many thousand acres of vines and 
led to the abandonment of grape growing in some regions. 
The disease has thus far baflied scientific inquiry as to its cause. 
The fullest statements concerning it can be found in Bulletin 
No. 2, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Vegetable 
Pathology, by Newton B. Pierce, 1892, and Farmers' Bulletin 
No. 30, 1895. Fortunately during recent years the trouble has 
not been aggressive. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

GRAPE VARIETIES IN CALIFORNIA. 

Large collections of grape varieties have been brought into 
California during the last forty-five years. They were sought 
in all grape countries, and from such wide experimental plant- 
ing a few have survived in popular esteem and are now chiefly 
grown. Being derived from ditiferent countries, they came 
bearing many names. Sonie of these have been preserved, 
some wholly lost, and replaced with local appellations. The re- 
sult is that, our grape nomenclature is full of confusion. Some 
varieties have been identified by the means of the standard 
French grape literature; others are apparently unknown to the 
cora],n]ers of that literature. It is, therefore, impossible to-day 
to determine a number of our most popular table and shipping 
grapes, as well as some of the wine varieties. In order to char- 
acterize our leading table grapes, descriptions will be quoted 
from the best available local authorities, as follows: — 

Early Black July; syns. Madeleine, Madeleine Noir, etc. — "Leaves 
rather small, light green above and beneath; bunches small and compact; 
berries small, quite round; skin thick, black, covered with a blue bloom; 
flavor moderately sweet, but not rich nor perfumed. The earliest grape, 
and chiefly valued for the dessert on that account." — Hyatt. 

Early Madeleine; syn. Madeleine Angevine. — "Moderate grower, with 
long-jointed, brown wood; leaf medium, deeply lobed, dark green above, 
tomentose below; young points reddish, woolly, slender; bunch medium, 
compact, shouldered; berry medium, oblong, yellowish green, transparent, 
rather thick skin, sweet and juicy. Vine a shy bearer when frost is 
prevalent. ' ' — Husmann. 

WJtite July; syn. Luglienga. — "Vine strong-growing and sensitive to 
frost; leaves of medium size, deeply five-lobed, dark green, glabrous on 
both sides, sharply toothed, the terminal tooth of each lobe very long and 
acuminate; bunches of medium size, well filled; berries of medium size, 
oval, at first green, becoming yellow with overripeness, with thin skin, crisp, 
firm flesh, and agreeable flavor." — Bioletti. The Luglienga, which means 
July grape, is one of the earliest grapes known. 

Chasselas Dore; syn. Eontainebleau, Sweetivater. — "A rather vigorous 
grower, with medium or somewhat slender canes of a reddish-brown color; 
young shoots of garnet color, nearly or quite glabrous; leaves rather be- 

(309) 



3IO Varieties of the Grape. 

low average size, a little longer than wide, glabrous above and nearly so 
below, except for a few hairs on the main nerves, with well-marked sinuses, 
the petiolar one often closed, the petiole long, rather slender, and rose- 
colored; bunches of medium or. over-medium size, conico-cylindrical, 
shouldered, more or less compact; berries medium to large, with firm but ten- 
der skm, small seeds, of delicate flavor and texture, at first crisp but 
becoming soft with full maturity. The grapes are of a clear green color, 
tinged with a beautiful golden bronze where exposed to the sun." — Bioletti. 

Chasselas Rose. — Fruit resembling foregoing, except that both bimch 
and berries are usually smaller, and flavor is more pronounced. 

Chasselas Victoria. — "Vine vigorous, very short-jointed and brittle, 
and bears well with short pruning; wood grayish yellow, thick and strong; 
leaf light green, deeply lobed and shining; young shoots with numerous 
laterals; bunch very large and heavy, often weighing five pounds, shoul- 
dered, very compact; stem brown, very thick; berry medium, 'round, pale 
lilac purple, with lilac bloom, juicy, vinous, refreshing." — Husniann. 

Palo})iino; syn. Golden Chasselas. — "The vine quite largely grown as 
'Golden Chasselas' is undoubtedly identical with the Listan, or Palomino." 
— Hilgard. "Vine a fair grower; wood close-jointed; leaf medium, oblong, 
deeply lobed, bright green above, grayish green and tomentose below; 
stem short, young points with reddish tint and woolly; bunch large, conical, 
rather loose and shouldered; berry round, full medium, sometimes flat, pale 
green with yellowish tinge; thin skin, juicy and sweet, resembling 
Chasselas." — Husmann. 

Black Malvoise. — "Vine a strong grower; wood long-jointed, rather 
slender, light brown; leaf medium size, oval, rather evenly and deeply five- 
lobed; basal sinus moderately open, with parallel sides, upper surface 
smooth, almost glabrous, lower surface lightly tomentose on the veins and 
veinlets; bunches large, rather loose, branching; berries large, oblong, red- 
dish black, with faint bloom; flesh juicy, flavor neutral." — Hilgard. Widely 
grown as an early table grape. 

Mission. — "This variety, grown at the old missions, has never been 
determined, nor its exact source ascertained. It is by some regarded as a 
most delicious table grape. It can be found in small areas in every county 
of the State adapted to the grape. Vine a strong grower; wood short-jointed, 
dull dark brown to grayish; leaf above medium size, slightly oblong, with 
large, deeply-cut, compound teeth, basal sinus widely open, primary sinuses 
shallow and narrow, secondary sinuses ill-defined, smooth on both sides, 
light green below with light, scattered tomentum." — Hilgard. "Bunches 
slightly shouldered, loose, divided into many small, distinct lateral clusters; 
berries medium size, round, purple black, heavy bloom; exceedingly sweet, 
juicy, and delicious; seeds rather large; skin thin." — Hyatt. 

Muscatel; syn. White Frontignan. — "Vine of medium size, with strong, 
spreading canes; canes reddish-brown, with short internodes; leaves of 
medium size, thin, five-lobed, glabrous, except for a few hairs on the lower 
side of the well-marked ribs; bunches long, cylindrical, regular, compact; 
berries round, golden-yellow, becoming amber-colored, very sweet and of 
marked aroma. Ripens a little later than the Chasselas." — Bioletti. 

White Muscat of Alexandria.''' — "Vine a short, rather straggling and 
bushy grower, well adapted to short stool pruning, as it forms rather a bush 
than a vine; wood gray, with dark spots, short-jointed; leaf round, five- 
lobed, bright green above, lighter green below; young shoots a bright 
green. The laterals produce a second and even a third crop; bunch long 



* There is much doubt about the White Muscats as grown in California. Some claim 
inability to distinguish between certain grapes of the Muscat type which are being grown in 
this State under distinctive names; others pronounce them clearly different varieties. The 
matter can not be adjudicated at present. 



Varieties of the Grape. 311 

and loose, shouldered; berry oblong, light yellow when fully mature, trans- 
parent, covered with white bloom, Heshy, with thick skin, very sweet and 
decidedly musky." — Husmann. The leading table grape of California. 
Rejected for irregular bearing on some mesa lands in southern California. 

Muscatel Gordo Blanco. — "Muscatel Gordo Blanco has a closer bunch 
and rounder berry than the Muscat. The skin is softer and the pulp is not 
quite so hard. The berry inclines to be a little darker in color and not 
nearly so green when it is ripe, and I think not quite as long as the Muscat 
of Alexandria. If the Muscat would set as well as the Muscatel, the 
difficulty would be obviated. One very important difference is that when 
you come to dry them, the Muscat of Alexandria loses the bloom very 
rapidly. The bloom comes off when you come to dry and pack them. But 
the Muscatel does not lose its bloom. The Muscat of Alexandria has to be 
dried a little more than the Muscatel to bring it into a keeping condition 
under the some condition of ripeness." — R. B. Blowers. 

"The growth of the Muscatel or Gordo Blanco vine is low and spreading, 
with no upright branches in the center; clusters heavy, and, vvhen perfect, 
close and shouldered; berries round and large (the greatest circumference 
being at the center), a crease often being found at the apex of the berry; 
color green, or, when fully ripe, amber green or yellow. Distinguished 
from Muscat of Alexandria by low, depressed growth of vine, closer cluster, 
rounder berries, and by thicker and finer bloom. The Muscatel is the choice 
raisin grape for the San Joaquin Valley, and for the interior generally." — 
Dr. Eisen. 

Huasco Muscat.— K variety brought from Chile, but after wide trial in 
California, seems not superior to the other White Muscat varieties previously 
mentioned. Its dense cluster is not well adapted to raisin making. It is 
held however, to be less subject to coulure. 

Feher Szagos. — "Vine a strong grower and heavy bearer; branches erect 
but slender; leaves glossy, entire; bunches medium to small, pointed, and 
solid; berries greenish amber, medium oval, pointed, with thin skin and few 
small seeds; flesh not firm, but dries well and makes a good raisin." — 
Dr. Eisen. 

Larga Bloom; syn. Uva Larga. — A variety of Muscat said to be named 
because of the length of its berries, but held by some growers to be indis- 
tinguishable from Muscatel Gordo Blanco. An excellent raisin grape, but 
now chiefly grown as a table fruit in the Santa Cruz Mountains. 

White Malaga. — "Vine a strong grower; wood reddish brown, short- 
jointed; leaf medium, leathery, smooth, deeply lobed, light shining green 
above; bunch very large, loose, shouldered, long; stem long and flexible; 
berry very large, oval, yellowish green, covered with white bloom; thick 
skin, fleshy." — Husmann. Grown in southern California in situations where 
the Muscat does not do well; also elsewhere as a table grape, and to some 
extent in San Joaquin Valley for raisins. 

Sultana; syn. Seedless Sultana. — "Vine vigorous, upright; leaves large, 
five-lobed, with rather large sinuses, light colored, and coarsely toothed; 
bunches large, long-cylindrical, with heavy shoulders or wings, well filled 
when not cultured, but not compacted; berries small, round, firm and crisp, 
golden-yellow, and without seeds." — Bioletti. In California the variety is 
apt to have some seeds. It has more acid, and therefore greater piquancy 
of flavor, than Thompson's Seedless, but the latter is exceeding it in 
popularity among growers. 

Thompson'' s Seedless.— ^^vn^A by Sutter County Horticultural Society, 
after W. Thompson, Sr., of Yuba City, who procured the cutting in 1878, 
from EUwanger & Barry, of Rochester, New York. It was by them de- 
scribed as "a grape from Constantinople, named Lady Decoverly." When 
it fruited in Sutter County, it was seen to be superior to the Sultana, and 
has been propagated largely. It has been widely distributed by J. P. 



312 



Varieties of the Grape. 



Onstott, ot Yuba City, and others, and is now to be found in all parts of the 
State. The variety is described by Ur. Eisen as follows: "Oval; greenish- 
yellow; as large as a Sultana; seedless, with thin skin; good, but not strong 
flavor, and without that acid which characterizes the Sultana grape and 
raisin; bunches large or very large; vine an enormous bearer." Mr. Bioletti, 
of the University of California, considers the variety identical with the 
Sultana of Asia Minor, and give this description: "Vine very vigorous and 
with large trunk and very long canes; leaves glabrous on both sides, dark 
yellowish-green above and light below, generally three-lobed, with 
shallow sinuses, teeth short and obtuse, bunch large, conico-cylindrical, 
well filled, on herbaceous peduncles; berries under medium, ellipsoidal, 
crisp, of neutral flavor, with moderately thick skin of a fine golden-yellow 
color." 




The Sultana Grape. 

Flame Tokay; syns. Flarne-colored Tokay, Flaming Tokay. — "Vine a 
strong grower, large in all its proportions, wood, joints, leaves; wood dark 
brown, straight, with long joints; leaves dark green, with a brownish tinge; 
lightly lobed; bunch very large, sometimes weighing eight to nine pounds, 
moderately compact, shouldered; berry very large, oblong, red, covered 
with fine lilac bloom; fleshy and crackling, firm; ripens late." — Husmann. 
The leading show grape of the State and desirable for shipping; quality low. 
Defective in color in some localities. 

Black Hamburg — "Bunches very large, from six to ten inches in length, 
very broad at the shoulders, tapering to a point gradually; berries very 
large, round, slightly inclining to oval; skin rather thick, deep purple, very 
black at maturity; very sugary, juicy, and x'xcih.'" —Hyatt. A very popular 
market grape. 

Rose of Peru; syn. Black Prince {f). — "Vine a strong grower, with 
dark brown, short-jointed wood; leaf deep green above, lighter green and 



Varieties of the Grape. 313 

tomentose below; bunch very large, shouldered, rather loose; berry round, 
large, black, with firm and crackling flesh, ripens rather late; a very hand- 
some and productive variety, of good quality, but not adapted for long 
shipment." — Husniann. 

Moscatello Fino ; syns. Moscatello Nero, Black Muscat. — "Leaves of 
medium size, with deep upper and shallow lower sinuses, glabrous above, 
slightly downy below, and very hairy on the veins, teeth long and sharp; 
bunches large to very large, long, loose, conico-cylindrical, and winged; 
berries very large, on long, thin pedicels; skin well colored, thin but tough; 
flesh soft and juicy, with delicate Muscat aroma. An excellent table grape.. 
It is a heavy bearer, and produces very fine-looking bunches of dark-colored 
grapes. Rather late." — Bioletti. 

Purple Damascus ; syn. Black Damascus. — "Vine a medium grower; 
wood light brown striped with darker brown, short-jointed; leaf round, five- 
lobed, smooth, light green above, tomentose beneath; stem reddish, large, 
long and woody; bunch large, loose, shouldered; berry very large, oblong, 
dark blue, covered with lighter bloom, meaty, skin thick, ripens late." — 
Husmann. 

Purple Cortiichoii; syn. Black Cornichoti. — "Vine a heavy grower, with 
thick, light brown, short-jointed wood; leaves large, longer than wide, 
deeply five-lobed, dark green above, and lighter and very hairy below, 
coarsely toothed, and with short, thick petiole; bunches very large, loose, on 
song peduncles; berries large, long, more or less curved, darkly colored and 
spotted, thick-skinned, and on long pedicels. Desirable on account of its 
attractive appearance, curious shape, excellent shipping qualities, and late 
ripening. " — Bioletti. 

White Cornichon. — Resembles Purple Cornichon in shape and flavor, 
put has very thin and tender skin, which makes it better for the table, but 
boorer for shipping. Leaves not deeply cut; smooth on both sides. 

Emperor. — "Vine a strong, vigorous grower; leaves very large, with 
five shallow lobes, short, obtuse teeth, glabrous above, woolly beneath, 
light green in color; bunches very large, long, conical, loose, with large, 
dull purple, oval, firm berries." — Bioletti. An excellent shipping grape, 
largely grown by R. B. Blowers, of Woodland, Yolo County, by whom its 
merits were first announced. Pronounced unsatisfactory because of irreg- 
ular setting and non-ripening in localities near the coast in northern Califor- 
nia, and generally condemned in southern California. Seems best adapted 
to early interior situations. 

Black Ferrara. — A large black grape; large bunches; berries cling well 
to the stem, thick-skinned, flavor superior. An excellent local market 
variety and long-distance shipper. 

Gros Colman; syn. Dodrelabi. — "Vine strong-growing, with dark-brown- 
ish wood; leaves very large, round, thick, very slightly lobed, shortly and 
bluntly toothed, glabrous above, close-woolly below; bunches large, short, 
well filled, but not compact; berries very large, round, dark blue, with thick 
but tender skin. Remarkable as having the largest berries of any round- 
berry variety known, and is probably the handsomest black table grape 
grown. The grapes have good keeping qualities, except that they are liable 
to crack." — Bioletti. 

Black Morocco. — "Vine a strong grower, with thin, spreading canes; 
leaves under medium size, very deeply five-lobed, even when very young, 
the younger leaves truncate at base, giving them a semicircular outline, 
with long, sharp teeth alternating with very small ones, glabrous on both 
sides; bunches very large, short, shouldered, and compact; berries very 
large, round, often angular from compression, fleshy, of neutral flavor, dull 
purple color or colorless in the center of the bunch. Remarkable for the 
number of second-crop bunches which it produces on the laterals. Late in 
ripening and of very fine appearance; a fairly good shipping grape, but 



314 Varieties of the Grape. 

difficult to pack on account of the size and rigidity of the bunches. The 
grapes are of an agreeable crispness, but lacking in flavor." — Bioletti. Vine 
quite subject to root knot. 

Verdal ; Aspiran Blanc. — "Vine of medium vigor and rather hardy; 
canes somewhat slender and half erect; leaves of average size, glabrous on 
both surfaces, except below near the axils of the main nerves, sinuses well 
marked and generally closed, giving the leaf the appearance of having five 
holes; teeth long, unequal, and somewhat acuminate; bunches large to 
very large, irregular long-conical, without any or with small shoulders, well- 
filled to compact; berries yellowish-green, large to very large, crisp, with 
thick but tender skin, agreeable, but without marked flavor." — Bioletti. 
Largely grown as a late table grape; in good condition ; in some regions as 
late as November. 

Almeria. — "Vine vigorous; leaves of medium size, round, and slightly 
or not at all lobed, quite glabrous on both sides, teeth obtuse and alternately 
large and small; bunches large, loose or compact, irregular conical; berries 
from small to large, cylindrical, flattened on the ends, very hard and taste- 
less." — Bioletti. The grape cultivated at the University experiment stations 
under this name is one of the several varieties which are shipped in such 
large quantities from Malaga and Almeria packed in sand or cork-dust. 
The grapes ripen late and attain about 20.0 per cent of sugar. They have 
remarkable keeping qualities. Vine needs long pruning, and is only adapted 
to hot, interior situations. 

There are many other vinifera varieties which are grown to 
a Hmited extent either for raisins or for table use. Among these 
are the Canon Hall Muscat, the White Tokay, White Champion, 
Cinsaut, Sabalskanski, etc., for table use; the White and Black 
Corinth, for drying. With grapes, as with other market fruits, 
the planter usually confines his attention to a very few popular 
kinds. 

EASTERN GRAPES. 

Though many of the improved varieties of the grape species 
indigenous east of the Rocky Mountains, and of the hybrids be- 
tween these species and the vinifera, have been introduced in 
California, their growth for table fruit is almost of insignificant 
proportions, and does not constitute even a respectable fraction 
of one per cent of our grape area. The popular taste decidedly 
prefers the vinifera varieties. There is, however, a variety be- 
lieved to be of local origin, which is worthy of mention, as 
follows : — 

Isabella Regia. — "A remarkable, giant-leaved, and very prolific sport 
of the I>^abella, originating by bud-variation with Mr. J. P. Pierce, of Santa 
Clara. The berries, like the leaves, are of extraordmary size, and when 
ripe the fruit is exceedingly sweet and strongly aromatic. It is, therefore, 
acceptable as a showy, perfumed table grape, much liked by some, but 
readily surfeiting those who are accustomed to the vinifera grapes. The 
berries are too soft for shipment to any distance, but, all things considered, 
keep fairly." — Hilgard. 

WINE GRAPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

Progress is being continually made in the propagation of 
varieties yielding the best qualities of wine, and in the manu- 



Popular Wine Grapes. 315 

facture thereof. The hosts of considerations involved in this 
effort are beyond the scope of this work, and in great part be- 
yond the knowledge of the writer. 

It will be interesting, however, to introduce lists of the 
grapes more or less widely grown in this State for the various 
kinds of wine. 

DRY WINES. 

Red {Claret and Burgundy) — Zinfandel, Carignan, Mataro, Mourastel, 
Petite Sirah, Petit Bouschet, Alicante Bouschet, Grenache, Valdepefias, 
Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Macaire, Beclan, Mondeuse, Blue Elbling, Refosco, 
and Barbera. 

White {Sauterne, Hock, etc.). — Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Vert, 
Johannisberg Riesling, Franken Riesling, Traminer, Chasselas Dore 
(Gutedel), Chauche Gris, Berger, Folle Blanche, Feher Szagos, Green 
Hungarian, Palomino, White Pinot, Thompson's Seedless. 

SWEET WINES. 

Ports. — Mission, Malvoisie, Grenache, Trousseau. 

Sherry and Madeira. — Mission, Palomino, West's White Prolific, 
Verdelho, Feher Szagos, Sultana, Thompson's Seedless. 

Angelica, Muscat, etc. — Muscat of Alexandria, Muscatella, Furmint 
(Tokay wine). 

Other varieties are also grown, but this list includes those 
most largely used at present. 



PART hlVE: SEMITROPICAL FRUITS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
THE DATE. 

The date palm {phoenix dactylifera) was brought to Cali- 
fornia by the padres, and the oldest date trees in the State are 
the survivors of their early plantings. These trees are found at 
the San LUego Mission, as shown in the engraving. They are 
conjectured to be a century old, and they have survived drouth 
and neglect, making unsuccessful effort at fruiting, for, accord- 
ing to common report, the fruit does not ripen, but whether 
owing to the unfavorable conditions indicated, or to lack of 
fertilization of the bloom, is not known. There are trees at 
Ventura, on the site of the garden of the old mission of San 
Buena Ventura, about forty feet in height and ten feet in cir- 
cumference at the base, with long, graceful, tern-hke leaves, 
which put forth about thirty feet from the ground. 

The ill success of these old trees in the direction of fruit 
bearing probably long prevented further attention to the date as 
a profitable growth. Still there were date palms grown from 
seed of the commercial date planted here and there for orna- 
ment or out of curiosity, and in due course of time the fruit 
appeared. The first public exhibition of California dates known 
to the writer was ir^ade at the Mechanics' Institute Fair, in San 
Francisco, in September, 1877. The fruit was grown on the 
south bank of Putah Creek, the northern boundary of Solano 
County, the situation being slightly above the level of the plain 
of the Sacramento Valley, which lies east of it. The plants 
were grown by the late J- R- Wolfskill, from seed of commercial 
dates purchased in San Francisco, and planted in 1858 or 1859. 
The seed germinated readily, and the young plants were set out 
in a row about one hundred feet south of Putah Creek, on a 
rich, fine, sandy loam, lying about twenty-five feet above the 
bed of the creek. The plants received good cultivation but no 
irrigation. This treatment was continued after the property 
passed into the hands of the late S. C. Wolfskill, the plants being 

(316) 



Old Mission Dates. 



317 



allowed to remain in the row as originally planted, and they 
have attained great size, considering their crowded condition. 
They are approximately six feet apart, have trunks about two 
feet in diameter, and are twenty-five feet or more in height. 




Date Palm at the San Diego Mission. 

Another bearing date palm stands about a mile eastward 
of the situation just described, near the residence of J. R. Wolf- 
skill. It was grown from seed of the date of commerce, which 
was planted in 1863, and the tree bore its first fruit in 1880. In 
the plate which shows this tree there also appears upon the left 
a taller date palm, which beai^s staminate bloom, as will be 
mentioned presently. This latter tree was originally one of the 
roAV previously described, and was successfully moved to its 
present situation after attaining considerable size. 



31 8 Propagation of the Date. 

The fruit of these two bearing- pahns differs notably in ap- 
pearance. That of the first-mentioned tree is of bright yellow 
color and angular outline; that of the second tree is wine red, 
with smooth surface. 

During recent years the date has fruited at many places in 
California and Arizona. There is little doubt that it will succeed 
in any of the interior regions which have a sufficiently high sum- 
mer temperature, and even the so-called Colorado Desert may 
be dotted with groves of date palms, as portions of it now are 
with groves of the majestic fan palm of California. 

Soils and Waters for the Date. — In California thus far the 
date palm has only been planted on good orchard land, but, 
according to experience in date-growing countries, the tree 
does not require rich soil, but, on the contrary, will thrive in a 
soil poor in humus — too poor and too purely mineral for any 
other fruit tree; and it produces the finest and best-flavored 
dates, nourished by water too alkaline for man and beast to 
drink. These observations should lead to trials of the tree in 
situations not adapted to other fruits. 

PROPAGATION OF THE DATE. 

The date palm grows readily from the seeds of the dried 
date of commerce, and, as has been intimated, the trees now 
fruiting in this Slate have been obtained in this way. By the 
use of seed, one gets, however, only seedlings, and the chance of 
thus securing a really fine variety is probably not greater than 
with other fruit-tree seedlings. In date-growing countries the 
best varieties are propagated by rooting the off-sets, sprouts, or 
suckers which appear at the base of the old palms. To' secure 
the best foreign varieties such plants must be imported. The 
first successful enterprise of this kind was accomplished in the 
summer of 1890 by the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, under the direction of Professor H. E. V^an Deman, then 
chief of die Division of Pomology. The plants were divided 
between New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The plants for 
California were sent to the Department of Agriculture of the 
University of California, and were planted at the experiment 
stations at Tulare and at Pomona. Upon fruiting a number of 
these plants, it appears likely that they are only seedlings and 
not the best foreign varieties, as represented. The United States 
Department of Agriculture undertook arrangements in 1899 for 
a new importation, hoping to reach better results. A full ac- 
count of the earlier effort and its outcome is given in Bulletin 
29, of the Arizona Experiment Station. 

Growing Plants from Seed. — Ihe seed germinates with 
great readiness: in fact the young plants spring up as volunteers 
where date seeds have been thrown during the rainy season. 



Blooming and Bearing of the Date. 319 

The seeds may be sown in open seed-bed, if slightly protected 
by cloth or lath frame, and the plants reset in nursery row to be 
placer' in permanent position after attaining more size. They 
transplant well if a ball of earth is taken up with the roots, if 
grown in boxes, which is, perhaps, preferable, because more 
easily watered and cared for, they may be afterwards potted for 
a time, but tiie ]>lant should not remain long in the pot because 
of the circular growth soon assumed by the roots. Large date 
plants can be readily transplanted by removing the outer leaves 
and taking as large a ball of earth as can be handled. 

Rooting Suckers. — Suckers taken off in warm weather and 
w^atered freely usually take root readily. Care should be taken 
not to let the plants dry. Professor Toumy, in the Arizona Bul- 
letin already cited, says a sliarp two-inch chisel and a mallet are 
good tools to use in removing suckers. The leaf stalks should 
be cut away, exposing the bulb of the sucker, care being taken 
not to injure the bulb in removing. One should cut in rather 
deeply at either side, not being afraid of injuring the old plant, 
cutting out a V-shaped portion extending from the base of the 
bulb downward for a foot or more, and being careful to secure 
in uninjured condition all the attached roots. Mr. J. W. Mills, 
foreman of the Pomona substation in California, has the best 
success in removing suckers by banking earth about the stem of 
the plant so as to cover the bulbs, a number of weeks prior to 
removing them. A good system of roots is established by this 
method. In growing plants from suckers one gets fruit much 
sooner than from seedlings. 

Bearing Age of the Date. — There is, however, much differ- 
ence in the ages at which the seedlings have come in fruit in the 
hands of different growers. Fruit has been reported on seed- 
lings six years old and even on plants four years from the seed. 
Such early maturity must not, however, be generally expected. 

Blooming of the Date. — The date palm is dioecious, and, its 
staminate (male) and pistillate (female) blooms appearing on 
different trees, it requires the association of the two for perfect 
fruiting. Growing plants from seed leaves the grower in doubt 
as to the sex of his plants until they bloom. Usually one ob- 
tains a large preponderance of male plants. In propagating 
from suckers the new tree is of the same sex as the parent. It 
is advised to have about one male to twenty female trees. The 
pollen can be transported long distances and maintains its vital- 
ity for a long time. 

Artificial fertilization of the bloom of the bearing palm has 
been found of advantage in this State, and was probably first 
practised by J. R. Wolfskill. Though the staminate tree was 
l)Ut a few feet awav from the pistillate, the male bloom was 
broken in pieces and hung to the leave.= of the female tree near 



320 Beauty of the Date Palm. 

to the pistillate flowers. It was found' that the parts of the date 
cluster which are nearest to the suspended male blooms have 
more perfect fruit than the more distant parts. Other Califor- 
nia date growers have had similar experience. 

In Winters the bearing palms bloom in April and May, and 
the fruit ripens in November. 

Beauty of the Date Palm. — The date palm in fruit is a beau- 
tiful sight. The glaucous green pinnate leaves arch outward. 
Between two of these emerge the bright orange-yellow polished 
fruit stalks, which divide into a spray of slender bright yellow 
stems a foot or so ui length; and thickly set upon these in clus- 
ters are the coral red date berries, covered with a rich bloom. 
It is a sight not easily forgotten by a lover of nature, and es- 
pecially by one reared in a northern zone, the characteristic 
vegetation of which is so different. 



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CHAPTER XXVm. 
THE FIG. 

The fig is, perhaps, the grandest fruit tree of CaHfornia. 
Its majestic size and its symmetry make it a crowning feature 
of the landscape, and its dense foHage renders the wide space 
embowered by it a harbor of refuge from midsummer heat, 
both for idlers and for the industrious. On adjacent farms in 
Pleasant's Valley, Solano County, there are large fig groves; 
one serves as a shelter for the packers of fruit from the contig- 
uous orchard, and the other incloses and shades a croquet 
ground. Measurements of large trees are abundant, for old 
trees are numerous in the interior of the State, both in the val- 
ley and on the slopes of the Sierra foot-hills. At Knight's 
Perry, in Stanislaus County, there is a fig tree sixty feet in 
height, with branches of such length as to shade a circle seventy 
feet in diameter. The trunk at the base is eleven feet around, 
and nine feet at a distance of three feet from the ground. A 
little higher the trunk divides into seven or eight large branches, 
each of which is nearly five feet in circumference. At thirty 
feet from the ground the limbs are seven and eight inches 
through. The largest grove is in the neighborhood of Knight's 
Ferry, and consists of fifteen miassive black fig trees, which, 
though set sixty feet apart, mingle their branches overhead and 
form a network through which, in the summer, hardly a beam 
of light can pass. 

Such groves are frequently seen in the older settled parts 
of the State. Perhaps the most interesting single fig tree is 
that on Rancho Chico, quite near the residence of General Bid- 
well. It was planted in 1856, and has attained a marvelous 
growth. One foot above the ground the trunk measures 
eleven feet in circumference; the widespreading branches have 
been trained toward the ground, and, taking root there, banyan- 
like, they now form a wonderful inclosure over one hundred and 
fifty feet in diameter. The tree is loaded every year. 

The crop on these large trees is proportionate to their size, 
and, entering their area in the morning during the ripening sea- 
son, one can scarcely step without crushing figs, though the fruit 
is gathered up each day and placed in the sun for drying. 

(321 ) 



322 Situations and Soils for the Fig. 

REGIONS SUITED FOR THE FIG. 

Though there are still many fine points to be determined 
as to what situations and conditions favor the production of 
the very finest figs, and there are indications that there is possi- 
bly much difiierence, it may be truly said that a very small part 
of the State is really unsuited to its growth. If one shuns the 
immediate coast of the upper part of the State, where the sum- 
mer temperature is too low for successful ripening, and keeps 
below the altitude of the mountains where winter killing of the 
tree is possible, he can grow figs almost anywhere. 

Selection of varieties adapted to particular situations has 
much to do with the success of the fig, as with other fruits, and, 
therefore, a broad statement* of adaptability must be received 
with such an understanding. The intrusion of the coast influ- 
ences borne eastward by the winds of summer, as described in 
Chapter I. give a night temperature too low for ripening of 
some varieties, which turn sour upon the trees. Present indi- 
cations are ihat the finest dried figs, having the thinnest skin 
and the nearest approach generally to the fig of Smyrna, the 
commercial standard for dried figs, will be produced in the drier 
portions of the valleys and foot-hills. Even in southern Cali- 
fornia fig-scuring is quite prevalent and selection of locations 
must be circumspectly made. More time is requisite for the 
final demonstration of these matters, although years have, al- 
ready been devoted to the problem. 

SOILS FOR THE FIG. 

As it must be left with the future to determine the mooted 
point as to the influence of special situations upon the bearing 
of the fig, and the more minute characteristics of the fruit, so 
more experience is needed to demonstrate the comparative effects 
of dij'ferent soils. It might seem, from the fact of the age of 
our trees in different parts of the State, that time enough had 
elapsed to determine these points, but it must be remembered 
that all our oldest trees are of the very hardy variety found at 
the missions, and conclusions drawn from them as to all vari- 
eties are unsafe. 

The fig will thrive in any soil that one would think of se- 
lecting for any of our common orchard trees, and, in fact, the fig 
succeeds on a wider range of soils than any one of them. One 
is safe in planting figs for family use, or for marketing, wher- 
ever the summer temperature is high enough to ripen the fruit 
well, and the winter temperature high enough to preserve the 
life of the tree. This applies merel}' to the successful growth of 
the fig; to secure ripening at a time when the fruit can be profit- 
ably sold for table use, is another question. 



Growing Fig Cidtings. 



323 



The selection of soils especially suitable to the production 
of the best figs for drying involves more considerations than 
rule in the growth of table fruit. For dr}'ing, the fig should at- 
tain a good size, but should not contain excess of moisture. In 
some parts of the State the hrst crop of figs in the season has 
been found unfit for drying. The second, and, in some localities, 
the third crop, appearing later in the season, when the moisture 
supply of the soil is reduced, dry well. This condition of the 
first crop is, however, affected by local conditions, for there are 
plac^es in the Sierra foot-hills where the soil moisture has to be 
replenished early in the season by irrigation to prevent even the 
first crop from falling prematurely, and subsequent irrigation 
brings to perfection the second and third crops. The fig tree 
needs plenty of moisture in tlie soil,* but not too much. As with 
other fruiti^, if the soil does not retain the needed amount nat- 
urally, it must be supplied by irrigation wisely administered. 

PROPAGATION OF THE FIG. 

The fig grows very readily from cuttings, and this is the 
chief method of propagation. Cuttings, should be made while 






Fig. I. 



Fig. 2. Fig. 3. 

Growth of Fig from Cuttings — Lelong. 



Fig. 4. 



the tree is fully dormant, in the winter, of well-matured wood 
of the previous season's growth, giving preference to stocky, 
short-jointed shoots, and making the cuttings about six to eight 



324 Budding the Fig. 

inches in lengtli. Tiie cut at the lower end should be made at 
the joint, or where solid wood is found. The planting and care 
of the cuttings is essentially the same as of vine cuttings, already 
described. If well made and cared for, a very satisfactory 
growth is made the first season, and the trees are ready for 
planting out in permanent place the following season. 

Single-bud Cuttings. — If one desires to multiply a new vari- 
ety very rapidly, single-eye cuttings will make plants. This is, 
also, analogous to single-eye grape cuttings, as already de- 
scribed. 

The engravings show dillerent styles of fig cuttings. Fig. 
I is the cuttmg usually employed, and its start in bud and roots 
is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is from the tip of a shoot, and Fig. 
4 is a single-eye cutting. 

Budding the Fig. — The foregoing means enable one to prop- 
agate a fig so rapidly that recourse is not had to budding, as in 
propagating other trees; still, budding is feasible, either on small 
plants or on young shoots of old trees which it is desired to 
over. 

The fig may be budded by the common shield method, as 
used for ordinary fruit trees, and described in Chapter IX, but 
owing to the tendency of the fig bark to i-hrink in drying, the 
bud should be closely bound in with a narrow waxed band, to 
exclude the air. As the bark is thick, it is often desirable to cut 
out a little of the edges closest to the bud when in place. 

A better method of budding the fig is by annular or "ring- 
budding," a method also relied vipon with the walnut and chest- 
nut.* Annular budding, as shown in Figs, i and 2, is done in 
ihe fall. A circular ring of bark is taken off from the stock, as 
shown in the first figure on the left, which operation is done by 
the aid of a budding knife, by running two circular cuts around 
the stock, and a longitudinal one l^etween the two circular cuts, 
the ring of bark taken ol¥ having the appearance shown in 
Fig. 2. This ring must be at least one inch wide, and from that 
up to two inches. A like ring of bark is taken off in the same 
manner from a scion of the variety to be budded in, and from a 
branch of the year, or preceding one, well in sap, and having 
about the same diameter as the stock. This ring should have 
on It one or two buds. It must fit exactly the space (a) seen on 
Fig. I, and more particularly at the lower circular cut (&), so that 
both barks will exactly unite at that point. When the ring is 
too long, a little bit of it might be cut olif with a very sharp 
knife till it fits well; if the ring is too large lor 'the stock, a lon- 
gitudinal strip would be cut out, and if too narrow, such a strip, 
if with a bud on so much the better, will have to be used to 



♦Felix GiUet, Nevada City, in Rural Press. 



Biiddi7ig the Fig. 



325 



fill up the empty space. One must be very careful while draw- 
ing- the knife around the stock not to go too deep into the 
wood to injure the cambium layer, or to weaken the stock. Tie 
a bandage pretty firmly over the whole. After two or three 
weeks the bandage has to be taken olif, and, m the ensuing 
sprmg, the top of the stock or hmb is cut down three inches 
above the budding. 

Another way of working such trees is by "whistle budding," 
which is done in the spring, when the sap is well up. Figs. 3 and 
4 show this method. The stock and scion must be both of the 
same size and well in sap. The top of the stock is cut down to 
several inches from the ground; a circular ring of bark is then 
taken off, and a corresponding ring from the scion, but without 





Fig^ 



ng.3. 

Annular and Whistle Budding Illustrated. 





a longitudiiial cut. is put in its place, in inserting it care should 
be taken that the top of the stock, which is to receive the ring 
from the scion, be very smooth, and the latter is then easily 
pushed down around it and bandagfed. In the case of the fig, 
it is especially desirable to use the latter method when the sap 
is up, because if the top of the stock is not removed, the exuda- 
tion from above sours around the bud and prevents the union 
of stock and bud. 

To prepare an old fig tree for budding over, the limbs may 
be cut back in February with.in two to six feet of the trunk, 
covering the ends with paint or grafting wax. Allow two shoots 
to start near the end of each of these amputated limbs, and rub 
oft all other shoots. Bud the shoots when they attain the thick- 
ness of one's linger, taking green buds from the growth it is 
desired to introduce, or let them grow and bud in the fall, which- 
ever is most convenient; or bud in tiie growing shcot, and rebud 
in the fall where buds have failed. 



326 Grafting the Fig. 

Grafting the Fig. — The fig can be grafted by the cleft-graft 
method, as described m Chapter IX, but the cleft should be 
made to one side of the stub and not through the central pith. 
Especial care must be taken, in excluding the air. Fill the cleft 
between the scions with warm wax, which will run in and fill 
the cavity. Then bind' the stock with wax bands, taking the 
greatest care to cover the exposed wood surface, the cut end of 
the bark (which in the fig is very prone to shrink and draw 
back), and as far down the stock as the bark has been split. 

Another method is to make slightly outward and down- 
ward cuts into the stub with a sharp chisel, so as not to cause 
a split, but rather deep, clean cuts, into which the wedge-shaped 
scions are firmly pushed and a cord wound around the stub to 
hold all strongly in place before waxing thoroughly. 

The form of side-graft as described in the chapter on the 
peach is also available. A form of bud-graft, that is, budding 
with a large shield intO' old bark, is also successful. Judge 
Rhodes, of San Jose, describes his method, both with the olive 
and the fig, in this way: — 

Cut the shield from a limb of about )4 inch in diameter, length of shield 
about i}i inches, its thickness from ]/% to % inch, and its bud near the m d- 
dle of the shield. Do not remove the wood from behind the bud. Make a 
cut in the stock, through the bark and into the wood, its length and width 
a little greater than those of the shield. Insert the shield into the cut, so 
that the inner bark of the top of the shield and cut will coincide, so that 
one side of shield and cut — and both sides, if practicable — will coincide. 
Place the flap of the cut over the shield (removing a part of the flap so the 
bud will not be covered), and fasten flap, shield and stock together very 
firmly with twine, and protect them with paper tied around them. They 
may be grafted in that mode, whenever dormant buds are found, for the 
shields. Twenty-four shields were inserted at several times, during one 
spring, and there was only one failure. 

Seedling Figs. — Figs are readily grown from the imported 
fig of commerce. Dr. Gustav Eisen, of San Francisco, our lead- 
ing writer on the fig, gives the following explicit directions for 
growing the fig from seed: — 

Cut open imported Smyrna figs; wash out the seeds in warm water, 
those that float are empty and worthless; those that sink are generally 
fertile. Sow these in shallow boxes of sand and loam mixed, and place in 
a frame under glass. In three weeks they will be up and must be very 
sparma;ly watered. Set out next season in nursery row. In three years 
from the seed such plants will be found to bear. Do not throw away plants 
until six to eight years old, as some may develop, or show their qualities 
late. 

The tendency of the plants grown from Smyrna figs is to 
revert to the wild type, and there is a small chance of securing 
jiood varieties. 



Pruning the Fig. 327 

PLANTING AND PRUNING THE FIG. 

The chief point to observe in planting hg trees is to get 
them far enough apart, because of the great spread of branches 
which they attain. Of course they may be planted twenty feet 
apart if the owner intends to remove alternate rows, but to 
plant at forty feet, or even farther apart, with other fruit trees 
or vines between, on the plan of alternate or double squares, 
described in Chapter X, would be the best way to lay out a fig 
orchard — the intermediate growths to be removed as the figs 
lequire more room. 

Very handsome effects are produced by planting the fig 
along avenues to inclose orchards of other fruits. 

In transplanting fig trees extra care must be taken to keep 
the roots from drying. After planting, the stem must be dili- 
gently guarded from sunburn, to which it is liable in the warmer 
parts of the State. 

Pruning the Fig. — The rig requires very little pruning after 
its shape is outlined. There is difference of opinion and 
practise as to the height at which the head should be formed; 
some head as low as already advised for common orchard trees; 
others, having in mind the immense thickness attained by the 
limbs, and their disposition to droop, head as high as four to six 
feet, which is the better way to proceed. 

In shaping the tree, branches should be brought out at a 
distance apart on the stem, so that there may be room for their 
expansion without crowding each other, and care should be 
taken not to leave too many mam limbs. Three limbs, well 
placed around the stem, are enough. The branches putting out 
on the under side of these limbs should be suppressed, and those 
growing upright, or obliquely upright, retained. After getting 
the general shape of the tree fixed, there is little need of prun- 
ing except to remove defective branches or those which will 
cross and interfere with each other and to prevent the interior 
of the tree from becoming too dense. It is better to remove 
branches entirely than to shorten them; or, in shortening, always 
cut to a strong lateral. Stubs left at pruning are very undesir- 
able in the fig. 

Cultivation. — Young fig orchards are cultivated as are other 
fruit areas. Old trees which completely shade the ground are 
usually left to themselves, without cultivation, except cutting 
out weeds. Irrigation is governed by local conditions, as al- 
ready stated. 

Bearing Age of the Fig. — The fig often, and, perhaps, usu- 
ally, begins its bearing very early, in the most favorable situa- 
tions in this State. Some fruit is often had the second year, and 
a crop worth handling the third year. Still, it is wiser not to 



328 Caprificatioii of the Fig. 

calculate definitel^y upon such returns, ior four or five years 
sometimes pass without a saiisfdCtory crop. We have, also, 
instances of "barren fig trees," which persist in "dropping their 
untimely figs," year after year, during their youth, now much 
of this is due to variety, and how much to locality, is not defi- 
nitely known, but successful Iruiing has been secured by graft- 
ing over barren trees, using scions from bearing trees growing 
adjacent to them. 

CAPRIFICATION. 

Caprification consists of suspending the fruit of the wild 
or Capri fig in the branches of tlie tree of improved variety, that 
the pollen may be carried by an insect from the former to the 
latter. Calitornia has never been able to produce dried figs 
equal to the fig of commerce or the Smyrna fig. This was, at 
first, thought to be due to lack of the Smyrna variety. After 
painstaking elTort this variety was introduced. Trees grew 
readily from the cuttings; fruit appeared upon them and dropped 
before maturity. Doubt then arose as to whether importers 
had not been deceived, and other efforts were made which re- 
sulted in other importations. These also cast to the ground 
their immature figs. Discussion turiitd then upon the fact of 
caprification — the necessity of havuig ihe fruit ot the Capri or 
wild fig adjacent to the fruit of the Smyrna fig so that insects 
from the Capri might visit the fruit of the improved variety and 
pollinate its inclosed flowers, which, appearing upon the inner 
wall of an almost closed cavity, could not be reached by ordi- 
nary visiting insects. The wild trees had already been intro- 
duced and were freely growing near the others, but this fact 
availed nothing — the figs fell just the same from the Smyrna 
trees. In 1890 Mr. George C. Roeding, of Fresno, essayed to 
demonstrate the fact that the lack of the pollination was the 
secret of failure, and he succeeded in introducing the Capri pollen 
into the eye of the Smyrna fig, and secured thereby the retention 
of such pollinated figs upon the trees, and when ripened and 
dried these had the Smyrna character. The demonstration was 
complete that California could not grow Smyrna figs without 
the pollinating agency found to be essential to success in 
Smyrna, which is a minute wasp called the blastophaga — an in- 
sect so minute that it can make its way through the mesh of ordi- 
nary cheese-cloth and can enter the almost closed eye of the 
young fig — so minute that a magnifying-glass is necessary to 
give one any clear idea of its outline. For years constant effort 
has been made by various parties to secure the introduction of 
this insect. Urgent appeals were made to the United States 
Department of y\griculture, after private undertakings failed, to 
secure the insect alive or otherwise in form for permanent resi- 



Eyiemies of the Fig. 329 

dence. In 1899 the fact was accomplished. The hving insect 
appeared in large numbers at FresnO' — the offspring of those 
brought to California in April, 1899, '^7 the Ifnited States De- 
partment of Agriculture. 

Foes of the Fig. — The fig is freer from insect pests than 
other fruit trees, and yet it is a mistake to consider it wholly 
free. The writer has seen the leaves well covered with a lecan- 
imn scale, and has found a moth larva boring in the pith of the 
young shoots; still, practically, the fig tree in California has not 
vet suffered from insects. 

The gopher has a pronounced appetite for fig roots, and 
their presence should be carefully watched for. Swine have a 
liking for fig bark. The trees of the grand grove planted at 
Hock Farm, on the Feather River, by General Sutter, were 
completely girdled from the ground as high as a pig could reach 
by standing on its hind legs. Figs make good food for hogs, 
and plantations have been made with this in view, but if the 
hogs are to be harvesters, it will be well to protect the stems of 
the trees from them. 

VARIETIES OF THE FIG. 

The fig presents what may be termtd an aggravated exam- 
ple of the confused momenclature which pervades California 
fruits. Dr. Eisen has made a commendable effort to bring 
order out of chaos by a study of foreign records and locally- 
grown fruit, and has published a catalogue of varieties chiefly 
grown in California, with descriptions of the characteristics of 
each in Bulletin 5 of the Division of Poinoloi^y of the U. S. 
Department of Agricult«ure, from which the following is chiefly 
drawn : — 

Adriatic. — Size medium, roundish; neck medium; stalk short; ribs ob- 
scure; eye open, with red iris; skin very thin, greenish in the shade, yellow- 
ish in the sun; pulp bright strawberry red or white, with violet streaks in 
the meat; varies in quality according to location. This has been found very 
useful in California, but is not of fine flavor when dried. It requires rich 
soil, with considerable moisture and a very large percentage of lime. This 
variety is not identical with that known in Italy as Adriatic. 

Agen. — Medium size, roundish; skin bright green, cracking longitu- 
dinally when ripe, showing white bands; flesh deep red, very rich; a good 
bearer, but very late, requiring a long hot season. 

Angelique ; syn. Angelica. — Medium, pyriform; ribs prominent; yellow- 
ish white; pulp white, with rose-colored center; leaves five-lobed. A very 
good variety in some of the coast valleys. 

Athens ; syn. Marseillaise. — Small, roundish or turbinate, with indis- 
tinct ribs, depressed at apex; skin rough; color whitish yellow, pulp red, 
opaline. Very sweet, and one of the best drying figs both in France and 
California. 

Bourjassotte, Black; syn. Barnissotte, Black. — Medium, broader than 
long, flattened at apex, with no neck and an uneven cheek; ribs distinct, 
even; eye small, sunk, closed; skin waxy, black with violet blush; bloom 



330 Varieties of the Fig. 

cjear blue, wanting at apex; meat pink, pulp blood-red. A most excellent 
fig for the table. It requires rich, moist soil. 

Boiirjassotie, White ; syn. Bartiissotte, White. — A fig related to the 
former, but larger; eye larger, sunk; skin waxy, green; pulp bright red. 
A very fine fig. Tree very large. 

Brown Turkey. — Large, turbinate, pyriform, with hardly distinct neck; 
stalk short; apex flattened; ribs few, slightly elevated; eye medium, slightly 
open, scales large; skin smooth, greenish to violet-brown in sun, with 
darker ribs; pulp dark rosy red, quality good, and tree a good bearer. 
Brunswick is frequently confounded with this fig. 

Brunswick. — Very large, pyriform, with swollen cheeks, one of which 
is larger than the other; apex very obtuse; neck and stalk very short; ribs 
distinct, but not much elevated; eye medium, open; skiji pale amber, with 
violet tint; pulp amber. An early, large fig, but with no flavor. Very 
common; requires rich, moist soil. 

Celeste, Blue ; syn. Violette. — Small, ovate, turbinate; ribs few, but 
distinct, especially near apex; eye raised, rough; color dark violet amber, 
without reddish blush; bloom confined to the neck; skin thin; pulp deep 
rose ; meat amber, sweet, but lacking in flavor. 

Col. de Signora Bianco. — Medium sized, pyriform; long, ribbed neck;, 
skin green, changing to yellow ; flesh deep red, very rich and luscious ; a 
strong grower; late, suited for a warm region. 

Dottato. — Medium ovate, pyriform; neck well set; stalk very short or 
none; ribs low; skin smooth; eye medium; skin thin, yellowish green,^ 
meat white; pulp yellowish amber, sometimes with violet flush. One of 
the best figs for drying; tree a strong grower, requiring moist, rich soil. 
Lately introduced into California. 

Drap (V Or. — Large, pyriform, with very low neck and stalk; ribs 
elevated; apex obtuse and concave; color light violet-reddish amber, not 
dark; pulp rosy red. A fig of very fine quality; especially useful for con- 
fections and crystallizing; not identical with Brunswick. 

Du Roi. — Above medium; round, pyriform; stalk very short; eye large 
or variable, with scales standing out; skin smooth, pale bluish green; pulp 
amber, with rosy streaks and exceedingly minute seeds. Related to Mar- 
seillaise and Athens, and one of the very best figs in California for drying. 

Early Violet. — Small to very small, round, turbinate; neck distinct but 
short; stalk medium to long; ribs distinct, elevated; skin rough; violet- 
brown, with thin pearl-colored bloom; pulp red. This variety bears almost 
continuously and is preferable to the Ischias and Celeste. 

Genoa, White. — Above medium, pyriform; neck small; stalk short; ribs 
indistinct; skin downy; eye very small; skin pale olive-green; pulp pale 
rose. One of the better figs, quite distinct from Marseillaise. 

Gentile. — Very large; ovate pyriform; neck short but distinct; stalk 
very short; skin uneven, with ridges; eye very large, open, with projecting 
scales; color greenish yellow, spotted with white; pulp amber, streaked 
with rose; seeds few but very large. Only the first crop of this variety 
ripens. It is of the San Pedro tribe. One of the best early figs. 

Grosse Grise Bifere. — Medium ovate pyriform; neck very short; stalk 
short; ribs distinct; eye small; skin downy, dark violet amber, pale olive in 
shade; the bloom is separated by a distinct line from the apex; pulp deep 
red. A tender, good fig. 

Hirtu du Japan.— Medium size, roundish with long stalks; skin very 
dark; flesh opaline; quality best; very prolific. 

/schia, Black. — Small; neck short; stalk medium; skin smooth; color 
dark violet black, greenish around the apex; neck dark; eye medium, 
open; bloom thin, dark blue; pulp red. Of fair quality but small size. 

Ischia, M^hite. — Size below medium, round, with small neck; stalk very 
short; eye open; skin smooth, bluish green with brown flush; pulp rosy red^ 
Common in California, but hardly worthy of cultivation in that State. 



Varieties of the Fig. 331 

Magdalen. — Below medium, round; ribs distinct, rough, disappearing 
around the eye; stalk longer than the fig; eye open, large; skin greenish 
yellow; pulp amber white. A very delicious fig, superior to the Ischias and 
Celeste. Not synonymous with Angelique. 

Marseillaise, Long. — Large, longer than wide; skin thick, with brownish 
shade; pulp dull red. Requires moist soils. A fair fig, which dries well. 
Not related to either Black or White Marseillaise. 

Marseillaise, JF'/^z/^.— Medium ovate, pyriform; neck short; stalk 
medium; ribs numerous and distinct; apex flattened; eye large, open; skin 
downy, pale yellowish green, mottled with white; pulp amber, with a few 
large seeds. One of the best figs for drying. Requires sandy, rich soil. 

3Iission, Black. — Medium to large, turbinate; neck long; stalk short; 
ribs distinct: eye prominent, open; skin rough, deep mahogany violet, with 
red flush; pulp not fine, red, but not bright or brownish amber; sweet, but 
not high-flavored; common in the Southern States, California, and Mexico. 
The oldest fig in this country. 

Monaco Bianco; syn. White Monaco. — Large, rounded, turbinate, flat- 
tened; neck small but very distinct; ribs numerous; eye very open; skin 
dark bluish green, with thin bloom; pulp dark-red rose. A most excellent 
fig for table, one of the best in California. 

Pacific White. — An unknown variety found growing on a farm in Placer 
County. Medium size, fine-grained, very sweet, dries well, but the skin is 
thicker and more tough than the imported fig. That and its small size are 
the only objections to it. It is quite widely distributed in southern Cal- 
iforna. 

Bastiliere.— Large, 3 inches by ij^; elongated, pyriform, with long 
neck; stalk short; eye closed, surrounded by an elevated iris; skin rough, 
hairy, with blue bloom; pulp red. Fine for preserves. 

J^onde Notre. — Large, round, but irregular; neck distinct, short; eye 
small; skin smooth, waxy, dark violet brown; pulp amber. Greatly to be 
recommended as a table fig. Is not related to Black Ischia or Osborn 
Prolific. 

San Pedro, White; syn. Brebas. — Very large, round, flattened at apex; 
stalk and neck short; eye open; skin thick, tender, of a bright yellow color 
or greenish in the shade, without bloom; pulp amber. A remarkable and 
handsome fig. Only the first crop matures without caprification. Suited 
only for table use. Requires moist, rich soil. 

San Pedro, Black. — Very large, elongated ovate, with no stalk, but 
with well-set neck; skin smooth, violet black with green neck; pulp red, 
coppery, tinted violet. For table use. The largest fig known. 

Smyrna (Fig of Commerce, Drying fig of Smyrna). — Of several 
attempts to secure the true Smyrna fig, or the variety which produces the 
well-known Smyrna fig of commerce, that made by the San Francisco 
Bulletin, and managed by G. P. Rixford, has achieved most prominence, 
and is now generally conceded to have proved successful. Fourteen thou- 
sand cuttings were obtained through United States Consul E.J. Smithers, 
in 1882, and a large part of these were distributed throughout the State. A 
later direct importation of fig cuttings from Smyrna was made by the 
Fancher Creek Nursery, of Fresno. These trees have already borne fruit, 
as has been described in a preceding paragraph on caprification. In the 
summer of 1890 cuttings imported from Smyrna by the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture were sent to several parties in this State. If the fig 
insect fully establishes itself, as anticipated on a previous page, this variety 
will establish itself as the leading drying fig here as a Smyrna, and a very 
important industry will be established upon it. Other figs called Smyrna in 
this State are misnamed. 

Verdal, Round. — Below medium, round pyriform, without stalk or neck; 
skin smooth, waxy, bluish green; eye closed; pulp dark, blood red. A 
small fig, but valuable for canning and preserves; better than the Ischias or 



332 Outlook for the Fig. 

Celeste. It does well in the Santa Clara Valley, but is inferior in the in- 
terior of the State. 

There are many undetermined varieties of the fig grown 
here and there in the State. Some may be finally identified, 
others may be new. Some of them yield an excellent dried 
fruit and should be more carefully experimented with. During 
the last decade there has been a marked decline in interest in the 
fig because of the faihire to secure the .Smyrna type in the dried 
fruit and because .so many varieties soured before drying. The 
outlook rests upon successful caprification, although recently 
there has been increased success in profitable drying of other 
varieties. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE OLIVE. 

The olive is another of the old mission fruits which has 
recently risen to a high place in the public mind. Though the 
tree and its products have been constantly under discussion 
since the American occupation, and though experimentation 
has been constant, it was not until 1885 that the tide of popular 
favor turned strongly toward the olive. Eor twelve years 
thereafter planting proceeded with enthusiasm amounting 
almost to infatuation, until the acreage now in olives has 
reached such a figure that the most enthusiastic question the 
wisdom of further planting. This is all the more serious 
because the future of the products of the olive is by no means 
clear. The competition of olive oil with cheaper salad oils 
works greatly to the disadvantage of the higher-priced article, 
apart from the fact that the cheap oils are sold in the guise of 
the olive, and can only be stopped by general pure-food legis- 
lation, which is now so greatly desired. The difficulty of pro- 
ducing pickled ripe olives with good keeping qualities is also 
vastly greater than anticipated. In addition to^ these troubles 
the sterility of the trees in some situations, through frost or 
other agencies, is discouraging many growers. It is probable 
that for the next few years, the uprooting of trees will exceed 
the planting and that the olive acreage will decrease until pres- 
ent difficulties are clearly shown to be surmountable. 

The olive tree has survived a temperature of 14° Fahren- 
heit in California, but the fruit is injured by a sHght fall below 
the freezing point. This may render unprofitable the late varie- 
ties which carry their fruit-ripening into the winter months. 

The olive tree will thrive throughout the larger part of Cali- 
fornia, and it has been shown that it will grow in a soil too drv 
even for the grape-vine, and too rocky for any fruit tree, but the 
growth of the tree and the bearing of fruit will be propertional 
to the amounts of plant food and moisture. On foot-hill slopes 
the trees bear fruit earlier than in the rich valleys, although in 
the latter the trees attain larger growth.- Trees in the interior 
bear sooner than on the coast, and ripen their fruit earlier in 
the season. 

( 333 ) 



334 Propagation of the Olive. 

The olive tree is now thriving in CaHfornia in a great vari- 
ety of soils. It is productive, if frosts are not too severe, on 
moist valley lands, while on hillsides, even where excavations 
had to be made between boulders, or into disintegrating rock, 
the tree has exhibited thrift and content with the situation. But 
the conclusion should not be drawn that the olive relishes poor 
soil. It may thrive with loose rock or boulders, but it finds 
among them the elements it needs. It is not to be inferred that 
the olive will succeed on sterile soil. 

The relations of soils to the qualities of oil has been investi- 
gated by the University of California Experiment Station and 
the publications can be had on application. 

We have not had experience enougli in this State to dem- 
onstrate the influence of soils on the quality of the oil, but oil 
thought to be good has been made from fruit grown on some of 
our best valley fruit soils, deep and naturally well drained, as, 
for example, on Putah Creek, where the tree is said to have 
attained a girth of six feet at twenty years from the cutting. 

At present olive planting is proceeding on all kinds of land 
and in all situations. From these plantations our children may 
gain wisdom. 

PROPAGATION OF THE OLIVE. 

Olives are propagated from seed, and from cuttings of vari- 
ous kinds and sizes. The growth from seed is seldom practised 
in this State, because growth from cuttings is easy, and furnishes 
the varietv desired without grafting. 

Grozving Olk'cs from Seed. — The olives should not be 
planted with the pulp, but cleaned of this either by letting them 
rot in a pile or by putting them into an alkaline solution to cut 
the oil. A simple way to hasten germination is to break the 
pits, taking care not to hurt the germ. An instrument similar 
to the nut cracker has been invented in France which is said 
to work very well. When the kernels are deprived of their 
shell, they are kept moist in a compost, or mixture of cow-dung 
and sandy soil, and are sown thickly in the month of April. If 
it is thought to be too much work to take the kernels out of the 
pits, they must be soaked in a solution of one-fourth pound of 
concentrated lye to the gallon of water. Most of the seeds sprout 
the first year. Planting the naked kernels gives the quickest 
result. • Without using this artificial means the seeds may remain 
dormant at least for two years. 

Large Cuttings. — There are two chief methods of prop- 
agating the olive froni cuttings now practised in California. 
One uses well-matured wood, and the other young wood which 
has just passed out of the herbaceous state. Practise wdth hard 



Small Olive Cuttings. 



335 



wood proceeds by taking cuttings of sound wood about a foot 
long and one-half to one inch in diameter, and rootine them 
as already described for vine cuttings, in Chapter XXIV. 
These large cuttings sometimes remain dormant for a year or 
more, and recent propagation has been almost exclusively by 
the small-cuttine method. 




Propagating the Olive by Small Cuttings. 



Small Cuttings. — Propagating by small cuttings has in- 
creased rapidly during the last few years. It serves an excellent 
purpose in rapid multiplication of the new varieties which are 
being secured from abroad; it enables the grower to handle a 
large number of plants in a small space, and the plants from 
small cuttings have a symmetrical root system quite resembling 
that from a seed. These cuttings are made from very small 
shoots and both the tips and the lower cuts are used. In the 



336 Budding the Olive. 

engraving the figure on the left is a tip cutting; the next, a cut- 
ting lower down the shoot, and the figure on the right is a tip 
cutting as lifted from the sand to show its manner of rooting. 
These figures are about natural size, and show clearly how the 
cuttings are made. The}^ are placed closely in boxes of sand 
about four inches deep, and after a few months are potted in 
small pots, or may be reset farther apart in boxes of soil or in 
the open ground. If the cuttings are made in Januar}^ or Feb- 
ruary, when the wood seems to be in the best condition in 
Berkeley, the trees will be of good si;^e for planting in per- 
manent place the next winter. It is very important to take 
the small cuttings just when the wood is in the right condition, 
not too soft nor too hard. How to determine this point can 
not be described; it must be learned bv experience. 

Grozving Trees from Truncheons. — New varieties secured 
from the south of Europe generally come in the shape of 
truncheons, which are long sticks of hard wood. They may be 
planted entire, or be sawn and split into large cuttings (for olive 
cuttings, even in firewood shape, will grow if properly treated), 
though better trees come from small cuttings. If the truncheons 
are bedded a few inches below the surface in moist, warm soil, 
shoots will appear which can be worked up into small cuttings 
when they reach the proper condition. 

BUDDING THE OLIVE. 

Since a large area of Redding Picholines has been planted, 
and the fruit found different from that anticipated, there has 
been a demand for working over the trees into better varieties. 
The method of budding commonly employed with fruit trees 
does not usually yield a high percentage of success witn the 
olive, and other ways have been adopted with much better 
results. 

Budding may be performed at any time of the year when 
the sap flows freely. If done late in the summer, the buds lie 
dormant through the winter. Best results are obtained when 
the buds are inserted early in the spring, as the operation can 
be performed to a much better advantage, and the buds will 
grow tO' some height before winter. When inserted in large 
orchard trees, or in limbs of large trees, the shoots from the 
inserted buds are allowed to grovv^ until they have attained such 
a size as will justify in the removal of the entire top. 

Twig Budding. — Twig budding, as first published in this 
State by B, M. Lelong, secretary of the State Board of Horti- 
culture, is very successful. The bud is cut deep into the wood, 
in order to give the bud as much bark as possible. The leaves 
are partly cut off, then, with the sharp point of the budding 



T"(.vig-B lidding the Olive. 



337 



knife, the greatest part of the 
wood inside of the bud is re- 
moved, as shown in Fig. i, which 
shows large and small twig buds. 
If part of the wood is not re- 
moved, then the bud can not take, 
as the wood in it prevents the two 
barks (the inner bark of the bud 
and the inner bark of the stock) 
from uniting. When the wood 
has been partly removed from the 
bud, the bud is inserted into the 
stock, as budding is done in the 
regular, ordinary way, and tied 
tight. At the end of three 
weeks the string is removed, 
and part of the top of the stock 
is cut back to force the bud 
to start. As the bud grows, 




Fig. I. Twig Buds. 

the foliage of the stock is gradually re- 
moved, until the bud is able to take up the 
entire flow of sap; it is then left to grow, 
and trained as shown in Fig. 2, which also 
shows the manner of inserting the bud in 
the stock. When the bud has grown out 
strongly, what remains of the stock above 
the bud is cut smooth, close to the bud, to 
allow it to heal over. 




Fig. 2. Growth cf a Twig Bud. 



GRAFTING THE OLIVE. 



Grafting is also used in working over both large and 
small olive trees. Good success can sometimes be had with 



"33^ Grafting the Olive. 

the ordinary method of top grafting, as described in Chapter 
IX, using scions not larger than a lead-pencil and inserting 
them in April. The olive can also be successfully grafted in 
the bark according to the method shown in Chapter IX. This 
graft is used for working in the top of the tree, but it may also 
be used at the surface of the ground, covering the cut surfaces 
with earth when the scions are in place. 'Jlie shield grafting to 
which allusion is made has already been described in the pre- 
ceding chapter, as it works well with the fig. Judge A. L. 
Rhodes, of San Jose, gives the following explicit account of his 
success with this graft: — 

The stock, where cut off, may be from half to two and one-half inches 
in diameter; the scion about one-quarter inch in diameter, the lower end to 
be formed by an oblique cut of about one and one-half inches. Split the 
bark of the top of the stock about one inch, raise the bark at the sides of the 
split slightly, insert the point of the scion between the bark and wood 
of the stock, at the split, and press it down the length of its oblique cut. 
Fasten it by binding twine around both stock and scion, about ten times, 
very firmly. Apply grafting wax to top of stock and scion. 

If the bark of the stock be three or more years old, make two slits in 
it, about one and one-half inches in length, the width between them equal- 
ing the width of the oblique cut of the scion, raise the bark between the 
slits, cut off about half of it by a sloping cut, then insert the scion and 
press it down, and bind with twine and apply grafting wax, as above 
directed. Cotton wrapping twine is of sufficient strength. 

Stocks the diameter of one inch or more should receive two or more 
scions. Scions gathered a short time before their insertion are the most 
successful. The twine around the stock and scion should not be loosened 
until it indents the bark of the stock. Protect the graft from sun and wind. 
Wrap paper around stock and scion, the paper to extend a few inches above 
the scion — or place the paper, in the form of a bag, over scion and stock — 
and secure the paper with twine, tied around the stock in a slip-knot. 

Bark grafting may be performed at any time when the bark of the 
stock can be readily raised — whenever the bark will "slip." I grafted in 
that mode in each week of April and May and the first of June, and in 
September. Failures not 5 per cent. Twelve scions inserted about the 
middle of last September are all growing. Shield grafting is the most 
successful in the spring. I prefer the bark grafting, as the shield buds 
may not start for months, or even for a year. 

Cleft Graft on Small Wood. — A satisfactory cleft graft can be 
made with an oblique cut, which is sitperior to a split of the 
stock, because on a small stock the split is apt to continue 
farther than desirable when the scion is pushed in. With the 
slanting cut in the stock the scion can be firmly pushed into 
place without splitting. The union of inner barks of scion and 
stock must be made on one side when the stock is larger than 
Ihe scion. This graft is tied in and waxed, or a waxed band 
may be used. In working small wood at the ground stirface, 
the earth should be drawn up around the graft. This modifica- 
tion of the old cleft graft is also desirable for use on ordinary 
fruit trees. 



Olive Planting and Pruning. 339 

PLANTING THE OLIVE. 

There is nothing gained by planting out the ohve too early 
in the spring. Both cuttings and rooted plants will do better 
if planted after the soil becomes well warmed, and after the 
heavy rains of the winter are well over. Of course the time 
when this condition comes is different from year to year, and 
varies, also, according to locality and situation. During the 
first summer the young plants will need occasional watering in 
some situations; in others, merely mulching, or keeping the sur- 
face finely stirred, will suffice. 

Olive trees are planted at different distances, but the rul- 
ing intervals are twenty to twenty-five feet. This will allow 
the trees to bear a number of years before they crowd each 
other; and then removing alternate trees gives ample distance 
for future growth. But it is clearly the part of wisdom to hold 
the olive to a low growth in order that the fruit may be cheaply 
gathered, and this may be done by proper pruning. 

PRUNING THE OLIVE. 

Pruning policies, as insisted upon in Chapter XII, have 
direct bearing upon the commercial growth of the olive. The 
development of the tree according to principles there laid down 
is practicable and desirable. After proper low form is secured, 
satisfactory bearing will depend upon regular pruning tO' secure 
new bearing shoots and thmning to prevent the tree from 
becoming too dense and bushy. The olive bears upon wood 
which grew the preceding year, and upon no other. It is just as 
important, then, to secure a good supply of such shoots as it is 
to secure new bearing wood for the peach, and the ways to do 
it, by cutting back and thinning out, are much the same. Keep 
the tree from running out of reach of a step-ladder; prevent it 
from becoming a brush-heap, for both these acts are essential 
to the growth of good bearing wood, low down. Trees which 
have been allowed to form umbrella-like tops may be brought 
down to business again by cutting back the main limbs and 
making selection from the many new shoots which appear, but 
by proper, regular pruning a tree can be so trained that the 
removal of large limbs is seldom necessary. The time to prune 
the olive is just after the gathering of the fruit. 

Developing the Vase Form. — Explicit suggestions as to the 
development of a low, vase-form tree may be helpful to inex- 
perienced growers. The following is from a foreign writer, 
whose illustrations are presented herewith: — 

When the youn.a: tree has attained "^onie heio^ht. it is the practise to 
cut off the top. so th?t the main stem shall be about tour and a half feet 
in rich soil, or three feet in poor soil or in locations exposed to strong 



340 



How to Reach the Vase Form. 



winds. Six or eight branches are left to form the head. The process of 
shaping the tree then proceeds, as shown in the engravings. Fig. i shows 
the young tree to be cut off at the point marked by the dotted line C. 
Six branches, three on each side, are left, and the lower twigs shortened. 
Each of the branches left develops, during the year, as the one shown in 
Fig. 2, which is then cut at C again, and the shoots B and D are short- 



FlG. I. 



Fig. 4. 




The Vase System of Pruning as Applied to the Olive. 



Gathering Olives. 341 

ened. This process starts out the upper shoot, and it appears the follow- 
ing year as A in Fig. 3, and it is again cut at C. This causes the two 
upper shoots to develop, and at the end of the year they appear as shown 
at BB in Fig. 4. Thus they stand at the fourth year's pruning, and each 
of them is cut at C, and A is shortened and D allowed to develop. By 
this time the tree has a spherical or vase form, and exposes much sur- 
face to the sun, which is desirable. 

The young branches that spring in the form of a cross on the more 
vigorous branches, bear only wood buds; the others, which are weaker, 
bear fruit buds on their whole length and burst into blossom at the spring 
of the second year. The latter never blossom again in the same place, 
but the shoot extends itself and forces two lateral ones. These new 
shoots bear the following spring, and so on. It must therefore be always 
borne in mind that the olive bears only on the two-year-old wood. If 
the new shoots are formed every year, the olive will bear annually; but 
in years of good crops, the sap employed to nourish the fruit only pro- 
duces a number of very diminutive shoots, and the next crop is a short 
one. The pruning ought to favor the growth of young lateral shoots, 
either by shortening the terminal ones, suppressing the "gormand," or 
fruitless shoots, or by reducing in a certain proportion, each year, the 
fruit-bearing shoots, if we wish for a crop every year. The shortening of 
H branch is made immediately above an outside bud in an oblique direc- 
tion, the interior one being suppressed. The suckers at the root of the 
tree should be continually cut off. 

Concerning the time for pruning, the best season is said to be when 
the winter frosts are well over and just before the sap starts in the spring. 
By early pruning the sap is made to act upon the buds unfavorably situ- 
ated on the tree, brings them out, and also develops latent buds on the 
old wood. Thus one is enabled to prevent the tree from becoming cov- 
ered with naked limbs. 

THE FRUIT AND ITS PRODUCTS. 

The agricultural experiment stations of the University 
of California have been occupied for many years in the growth 
of olives and close examination of olive products both by labora- 
tory and practical test. The publications of the stations consti- 
tute the fullest compendium of exact knowledge on this subject 
in the English language. All who wish to go into the matter 
deeply should secure this literature, so far as it is now available. 
For the purpose of this treatise outlines will be drawn from these 
sources. 

Gathering the Fruit. — Olives should be picked carefully and 
at the right time. For green pickles they should be picked 
very soon after they obtain full size, but before they have begun 
to color or soften. For ripe pickles and for oil making the fruit 
should be gathered when it contains the maximum amount of 
oil. This is soon after the olives are well colored, but before 
they have attained the deep black which signifies overripeness. 
If the olives are gathered too green the oil will be bitter; if too 
ripe, it will be rancid. When they can be easily shaken from 
the tree they are ripe enough. If they commence to fall with- 
out vigorous shaking they are overripe. For whatever pur- 



342 Hoiv to Make Olive Oil. 

poses tlie olives are to be used they should be carefully gathered 
by hand, and imperfect, immature, or bruised fruit rejected. 
Sound fruit is required for high-grade oil or for handsome 
pickles with good keeping quality. 

THE MANUFACTURE OF OLIVE OIL. 

Olive oil is made in this State with apparatus of both Cali- 
fornian and European design, and, as a rule, there is made only 
one, and at most but two, pressings of the pomace, which is 
then used for fattening swine. In the frequent working over 
of the pomace, and the close extraction of the oil, as practised 
in Europe, we have done little as yet. 

Olive oil is made on a small scale by a number of parties 
who use home-made contrivances, or small, portable cider 
machinery for the crushing and pressing. During the last few 
years qtiite a number of mills have been erected, some being 
"custom" or '"co-operative" mills for using the olives produced 
by small growTrs. 

Drying. — Extraction of oil from fresh olives gives the best 
oil, but is somewhat troublesome, and it is customary to partially 
dry them. This partial drying is also useful to keep the fruit 
for some time or for shipment before crushing. Place the 
olives in layers not more than three inches deep, on trays that 
are slacked in a dry, well-aired room, protected from the wind 
and the direct rays of the sun. Turn daily until the fruit 
becomes well wrinkled. This requires about eight or ten days, 
according to the degree of temperature. The partially- dried 
fruit may be stored in a dark room where the temperature doies 
not rise above sixty degrees Eahrenheit. for three or four weeks 
without any serious deterioration of oil. To hasten the drying 
process, artificial driers, constructed on the same principle as 
the fruit or hop driers, are sometimes used. The olives are 
placed in a single layer upon trays, and the drier is kept at a 
temperature of about one hundred and twenty degrees Fahren- 
heit; at over one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit the 
quality of the oil may be impaired. The drying takes about 
forty-eight hours — more or less — according to the nature of the 
fruit. 

Crushing. — The olives are usually crushed by heavy stone 
rollers revolving in a circular depression in a bed of masonry 
into which the fruit is placed. Crushers with corrugated bronze 
or bronzed metal rollers are now made that perform their work in 
a very satisfactory manner, breaking up the flesh and pits very 
thoroughly. xA.s the}- are all of metal, they absorb no oil and are 
easily cleaned. Tt is very essential that the flesh should be 
crushed thoroughly in order to break up the cells and permit 



How to Make Olive Oil. 343 

the oil to be pressed out. Mr. Cooper formerly used a stone, 
btit has substituted two iron crushers, one following the other 
over the fruit. Mr. Kimball works his crusher and his presses 
by steam power. Mr. Cooper uses horse power, and has the 
apparatus so geared that the horse works outside the building, 
which is an advantage in point of cleanliness and otherwise. 

Pirssing. — When the revolving crusher has reduced the 
olives to a mass, the pomace is shoveled up from the bed of the 
mill and prepared for pressing. Instead of the fabric of woven 
esparto grass which is used abroad, coarse linen cloth is used. 
A certain amount of the pulp is put in each cloth, so that when 
the cloth is folded back it makes a cheese about three feet 
S(!uare and three inches thick. Ten or more of these cheeses 
are placed one above the other, with slats between, and the 
pressure applied gently at first. From the liquid which runs 
out first is made the very finest oil, known as "virgin oil." The 
pressure is then increased very gradually until the full power of 
the machine is reached. This presses out the second quality of 
oil, which is generally mixeci with the first. After obtaining all 
the oil possible by the first pressure the "cheese" is taken out, 
thoroughly broken up in hot water, and again pressed. This 
yields the third quality, which is very much inferior to the first 
and second. Sometimes the "cheese" from the first pressing is 
thoroughly broken up with cold water and pressed again before 
being treated with hot water. In this way a little oil is obtained 
that differs little from the second quality, and may be mixed 
with it. After this a certain amount of oil still remains in the 
"cheese," but it can be extracted only by very powerful hydraulic 
presses, or by chemical means, and then is of very inferior qual- 
ity, and suitable only for burning or for soap making. 

Settling and Clarifying. — The liquid from the press is dark 
colored, and it is conducted into a receptacle for settling. 
Aluch of the foreign matter quickly separates, the oil appearing 
on the top. The oil is removed to other receptacles in which it 
can stand from two to five months for perfect separation of 
undesirable sediment. 1 hese settling tanks may be made of 
well- tinned metal, or of cement lined with glass or other imper- 
vious substance. The first settling is convenientlv made by 
means of a funnel-shaped apparatus, which by its conical shape 
facilitates t?ie rapid deposition of sediment. After standing for 
twenty-four hours in this apparatus the major part of the sedi- 
ment is deposited and can be drawn off at the bottom. It is 
well, before running the oil into the settling tanks, to pass it 
through two or three inches of cotton wool. This is accom- 
plished by means of a funnel with a perforated, horizontal cross 
partition, upon which the cotton is placed. It takes, generally, 
about one month for the oil to settle sufficientlv in the first tank, 



344 Pickling the Olive. 

after which it should be drawn off carefully into the second, and 
so on until it is sufficiently bright. 7 hree rackings are usually 
sufficient. 

Olives are soriietimcs ground and pressed in portable cider 
mills or ground in barley crushers for oil manufacture on a 
small scale. As the above description shows, oil making is a 
simple process, and may be carried on at home with rude 
devices. It is, however, a process requiring care and cleanli- 
ness, and intelligent personal attention. 

PICKLING THE OLIVE. 

Olives are pickled in a green state, as is the case with the 
imported olives; or in a ripe state, as largely undertaken in Cali- 
fornia. No one had any conception ten years ago of the diffi- 
culties attending the production of pickled ripe olives which 
would have the keeping quality demanded in an article of com- 
merce. It is now clearly seen that treating ripe olives to extract 
the bitterness and to secure firmness, good flavor and keeping 
quality is one of the most difficult propositions in our horticul- 
tural manufacturing, and we can but admire the wisdom of the 
Spaniard in teaching Anglo-. Saxons to enjoy green olives. To 
succeed with the ripe olive requires the utmost patience, experi- 
ence, and intelligence, and one who undertakes it must not get 
weary of the most exhaustive study of difficulties that may arise 
and how to meet them. When the most careful picklers with 
the best appliances sometimes lose himdreds of dollars worth 
in spite of all they know about it, the difficulty of the matter 
may be appreciated. 

The following is an outline of the pickling of ripe olives as 
drawn from the University publications: — 

The Lye Process. — The vats or other receptacles used for pickling 
should be perfectly clean, odorless, and tasteless. Earthenware is the 
best material, but it is cheaper to use wooden receptacles thoroughly- 
treated with boiling water and soda until they are sterilized and all taste 
of the wood removed. Metal receptacles must not be used. The vats 
should have a plug below to draw ofif the liquids and should be covered 
to exclude air. They should be shallow, so that the layer of olives should 
not be much over a foot in thickness. 

1. Place the olives in a solution, composed of two ounces of potash 
lye to each gallon of very pure water, for four hours. Repeat this once, 
or twice if necessary, to sufficiently remove the bitterness. If the olives 
are soft at first, or if they are of a kind that softens rapidly in the lye, 
use brine from the beginning, adding two ounces of lye and four ounces 
of salt to each gallon of water. As the lye acts much more slowly when 
used in combination with salt, it may be allowed to stay on the olives 
for a longer time without injury, eight to twelve hours or even more. 

2. Rinse the olives thoroughly and replace the lye solution with fresh 
water. Change the water twice a day, until the lye has been removed 
from the olive, as judged by the taste. Use weak brine if the olives are 
too soft, changing once in two days. 



I 



Picklmg the Olive. 345 

3. Replace the water with brine composed of four ounces of salt to 
a gallon of water and allow to stand two days. 

4. Put in brine of six ounces of salt to a gallon for seven days. 

5. Put in brine of ten ounces per gallon for two weeks. 

6. Put finally into a brine containing fourteen ounces of salt to the 
gallon of water. 

Much depends upon having pure water. Ditch or stream water 
should be boiled before using. 

Pure-Water Process. — The best pickled olives are made without the 
use of lye, but this process is only practicable with olives whose bitter- 
ness is easily extracted, and where the water is extremely pure and plenti- 
ful, and even then it is very slow and tedious. It differs from the last 
process only in omitting the preliminary lye treatment. The olives are 
placed from the beginning in pure water, which is changed twice a day 
until the bitterness is sufficiently extracted. This recjuires from forty to 
sixty days or more. The extraction is sometimes hastened by making 
two or three shallow, longitudinal slits in each olive, but this modifica- 
tion, besides reciuiring a large amount of expensive handling, renders 
the fruit peculiarly susceptible to bacterial decay and softening. A.lto- 
gether, the pure-water process can not be recommended for California, 
as it is too expensive and uncertain. 

Green Pickles. — Green pickled olives are made by essentially the same 
processes as are used for ripe olives. The extraction of the bitterness 
requires the same care. The olives are pickled soon after they have at- 
tained full size, and before they have shown any signs of colormg or 
softening. They contain at this time comparatively little oil, and are in 
every way much inferior to the ripe pickles in nutritive value. They are 
not a food but a relish. They are rather more easily made than the ripe 
pickles, as there is less danger of spoiling. 

VARIETIES OF THE OLIVE GROWN IN CALIFORNIA. 

Manv varieties of the olive have beer, brought to California 
from southern Europe during the last twenty years. Fifty- 
seven varieties have been analyzed and elaborately reported 
upon by the University experts, and of these about fifteen varie- 
ties have risen to commercial account, as shown by the state- 
ments of their operations which leading propagators liave 
kindly furnished for this work. It is an interesting fact, how- 
ever, that in spite of all the efforts put forth to secure a better 
olive than the old Mission variety, this old sort comprises three- 
fifths of all the planting which has been done during the last 
few years — that is, the Mission has received fifty per cent more 
orders from planters than all other sorts combined. The fol- 
lowing is the list of the varieties now growing in California on 
a commercial scale, arranged approximately in the order of 
their present popularity: — 

Mission, Oblon^a, 

Manzanillo, Pendulier, 

Nevadillo, Polymorpha, 

Rubra, Pendulina, 

Uvaria, Regalis, 

Columella, Lucques, 

Sevillano, Macrocarpa. 
Oblitza, 

23 



346 



Varieties of the Olive. 



These may be taken, then, as the varieties to which atten- 
tion should be given. Of course the next few years' experi- 
ence may produce marked changes in this list. 

The Mission Olive. — By this name is signified the variety found grow- 
ing at the old missions m California. Samples of the fruit and leaves 
sent by F. Pohndorfif to Don Jose de Hidalgo Toblada, a noted Spanish 
authority on the olive, led to the classing ot our mission varieties with 
the Cornicabra-Cornizuelo varieties of Spain, and its value was con- 
firmed. It has long been known that the so-called Mission olive em- 
braced several varieties, or sub-varieties at least. 

Common or Broad-Leaved Mission Olive. — The variety of olive most 
generally known as the Mission; ovate, oblique — sometimes very much 




Mission Olive of California (Single Olive Natural Size). 

so — the pit straight or slightly curved, fruit very variable in size, growing 
singly or in clusters of two or three, or even five; time of ripening, late, 
in the coast region sometimes not before February, but generally in 
December; in warmer localities, in November. 

Redding Picholine. — Imported by the late B. B. Redding. A perfect 
cval in shape, ripens early, several weeks earlier than the common Mis- 
sion; dark purple or black when ripe; in pickling the pulp loses the bit- 
terness quickly, the fruit being very pleasant. This variety has been 
propagated extensively in the State, and, until fruiting, was supposed to 



Varieties of the Olive. 



347 



be a large pickling variety. It has produced oil of good quality. The 
smallness of the fruit is its irremediable defect. 

Oblonga — Imported by John Rock from France. An olive of a pe- 
culiar, club-like shape, being narrow at the stem end, broad at the point, 
rounded and strongly oblique; generally pointed at both ends. The pulp 



*m^ ^ eem 



J 




Manzanillo Grown by G. C. Roeding, Fresno. (Reduced.) 

loses its bitterness comparatively quickly in pickling. This olive ripens 
quite early — at least two to three weeks earlier than the Broad-leaved 
Mission; color, dark purple. 

Pcndonlier. — Large, oval, slightly curved at apex end; very desirable 



348 



Varieties of the Olive. 



for pickling; early ripening in October in the interior valley and in No- 
vember in coast valleys. 

Manzanillo No. i. — Imported by F. Pohndortt from Spain, large 
regular rounded oval; pit straight, strongly pointed at the apex, nine- 
sixteenths of an inch long, five-sixteenths of an inch thick. Ripens 
early, several weeks earlier than the Broad-leaved Mission. The fruit 
grows on long stems. The pulp parts readily with its bitterness, and is 
exceedingly rich when pickled. Excellent in the San Joaquin Valley 
both for oil and pickles. 

Manzanillo No. 2. — Imported by F. Pohndorff from Spain. As the 
name ("'small apple") indicates, this variety is nearly round, with a pit 
of rounded oval shape, rather squarely cut ofif at the base. This variety 
ripens early — several weeks earlier than the Broad-leaved Mission olive; 
the fruit grows generally singly on long stems. 

Rubra. — Imported by John Rock from France; ovate, slightly ob- 
lique, looks a good deal like a small Mission olive; pit straight, pointed; 
ripens three to four weeks earlier than the common Mission variety; is 
of a jet black when ripe. This tree begins to fruit quite young, and is 
a prolific bearer. Very hardy and prolific even in dry situations. 



ii?,^"^^ 




Oblitza as Grown by Geo. C. Rocdiiig, of Fresno. 



Uvaria. — Imported by John Rock from France. Oval, regular, and 
rounded on both ends; pit straight, heavy, late; later than the common 
Amission olive; color dark purple or black when ripe. The name, "grape- 
like," is well chosen, the fruit growing in clusters, as many as seven to- 



Varieties of the Olive. 349 

gether, and in shape themselves rosembHng the grape. Very proHfic. 

Peuduliiia. — Imported by John Rock from France. This variety^is 
of an even, oval shape, rounded at both ends, quite variable in size, many 
fruits remaining small and undeveloped; pit has small, sharp points often 
at both ends Fruit grows in clusters of from two to five; the pulp parts 
very readily with its bitterness. Larger and more ovate than Pendou- 
lier. Tree a strong grower; fruit desirable both for oil and pickles. 

Colunibclla. — Imported by John Rock from France. General form, 
broadly oval ; very even in size, remarkable for the peculiar pale yellow 
color which all the fruit assumes before turning fully ripe and becoming 
dark purple; pit small; straight and sharp-pointed; the pulp contains 
little bitterness; flavor very rich; ripens late, later than the Broad-leaved 
Mission. Tree hardy in dry places and a prolific bearer. 

Polymorpha. — Imported by John Rock from France. Very large, 
ovate, oblique, and pointed; light colored; pit square at the base, strongly 
pointed at the apex; flesh firm; ripens very early; fruit grows on strong 
stems in clusters of two or three. Tree not a strong grower, but pro- 
ductive. 

Lucques. — A variety specially adapted for pickling, though producing 
oil of good qualitv; strong-growing tree and hardy; sometimes shy 
bearer when young; fruit shiny black, curved; product called "Crescent 
Olive." 

Nevadillo Blanco — Imported by F. PohndorfY from Spain. Oval, 
slightly oblique, pointed, resembling somewhat a Mission, but is gener- 
ally more elongated in proportion to its diameter than the latter; pit 
small, curved, and generally pointed at both ends; the fruit is borne 
in clusters of three to five; ripening not much earlier than the Mission; 
a fine oil olive, largely planted, but disappointing in some regions as a 
shy bearer and subject to frost injury. 

Oblitza. — Imported by the late N. Milco from Dalmatia; resembles 
the Pendoulier, and may be identical; fine in the San Joaquin Valley and 
pronounced by Geo. C. Roeding, of Fresno, the largest olive so far 
fruited by him; oval, but broad and rounded at both ends; grows in clus- 
ters; tree a good grower, hardy and productive; fruit excellent for 
pickles; ripens in November in the interior — about the same as the Mis- 
sion. 

Sevillano. — Recently largely planted as the variety exported from 
Spain as the "Queen olive." The largest of all olives; only useful for 
pickling; when ripe, bluish black; clingstone. Tree a strong grower, 
leaves deep green, greenish white underneath. Described by Mr. Roed- 
ing as a regular bearer, but requires deep, rich, well-drained soil and 
will not stand much cold. 

The foregoing enumeration and description of varieties is 
only partial and mainly restricted to varieties which have been 
more or less largely planted. Many more have been experi- 
mentally fruited and data are available at the University, as al- 
ready stated. The following are the leading facts as to size, pit, 
and oil contents of the varieties which have been most largely 
planted, and a few others: — 



350 



Characters of Leadiyig Olives. 



Averages of Olive Varieties, Determined at the University of 

California. 



Variety. 



Number of 

Olives 
per pound. 



Pit, per cent. 



Oil, per cent, 

in 
whole fruit. 



Mission 

Nevadillo Blanco... 

Manzanillo 

Redding Picholine 

Uvaria 

Rubra 

Oblonsda 

Columbella 

Pendulina 

Polymorpha 

Macrocarpa 

Regalis 

Correoiolo 

Razzo 

Frantoio 

Cucco 

Leccino 

Grossaio 

Palazzuolo 

Infrantoio 

Lucques 

Picholine 

Ascolano 

Oblitza 

Empeltre 

Sevillano , 



III. 6 

157-3 
106.6 
398.2 
205.1 
196. 1 

179-4 
114 6 

157-1 
71.9 
72.8 
112.5 
262.7 
216.5 
298.9 
192.9 

245-5 
242.3 
272.1 

375-'^ 

192.9 

77.0 

60.6 

105.2 

III. 4 

36.2 



17.2 
17-3 
14.7 
23.0 

25-5 
17.9 
18.7 
16.6 

13-7 
17. 1 

17-5 
16.3 
25-8 
24-3 
25-9 
21.1 
21.7 

257 
22.2 
30 o 
23.0 

17-5 
12.0 
14.6 
15-7 
14-5 



17-56 
19.21 
16.94 
16.18 

13-71 
18.58 

13-34 
15-59 
18.63 
15-85 
14.70 
16.37 
21.15 

21 TO 
24.10 
27.22 

22.45 
23.96 

29-34 
19-31 
14.81 

17-83 
16.26 
11.23 
19.86 
17-23 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THE ORANGE. 

The orange has held a leading place among California 
fruits ever since the American occupation, and during the last 
decade has rapidly advanced in investment and in product. 
The greatest year in output was that which closed November i, 
1898, M'ith a total shipment of over 14,000 car-loads to various 
points beyond State lines, which was nearly four times as great 
as the product of 1890. The product of the year ending No- 
vember I, 1899, was about one-third less in bulk because of 
drouth, but in value it was greater. The frost injuries in 
Florida and the protective tariff on imported fruit added greatly 
to the market value of the California product. 

Southern California still maintains distinctive claim to 
credit as the citrus quarter of the State, for her seven counties 
furnished more than ninety-five per cent of the product, and her 
position is not likely to be seriously questioned. There is only 
ten per cent of the orange acreage of tlie State in more northerly 
regions, nor is there serious reason to apprehend that the ratio 
of acreage will materially change in the future. Still, to con- 
clude, from the commercial supremacy of the southern counties 
in orange production, that all the southern country is fitted for 
the growth of this fruit, and that more northerly counties are 
not, or to decide from recent considerable increase in the north- 
ern product that all the north is thus endowed, is both incorrect 
and misleading. Certain southern situations have been proved 
to be unsuited for profitable orange production, and certain 
northern situations are also unfit. The considerations urged in 
the first two chapters of this work show that, so far as tempera- 
tures go, citrus climate can not be attributed to different geo- 
graphical divisions of the State. Within a north and south dis- 
tance of above four hundred miles oranges are successfully 
grown on a commercial scale, in proper situations and soils, 
and temperature extremes are practically identical within this 
long stretch of latitude. The fact stated in Chapter I with 
reference to topography, which brings earlier maturity to fruits 
at the north than at the south, has direct relation to the produc- 

(351) 



352 Orange Situations and Soils. 

lion of oranges, as of other fruits, and is of advantage to both 
districts in that it lengthens the marketing season of the fruit, 
and, to a certain extent, reHeves both from competition. 

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE ORANGE. 

Though it is acknowledged to be impossible to speak geo- 
graphically concerning the success of the orange, there are a 
few generalizations concerning suitable conditions which may 
assist the planter in choosing locations. The lowest tempera- 
ture reached in our fruit districts since American occupation, 
has not seriously injured mature wood of the orange, except in 
notoriously unfit situations, but it should be pointed out that 
injury to mature wood is wrought much below the limit of 
safety to the product. The fruit is very liable to^ injury at a 
slight drop below the freezing point, and where such tempera- 
ture is reached every winter, the orange tree would be little 
more than ornamental. Even in our best orange regions there 
is occasional injurv^ to the fruit and to young trees, and appre- 
hension is felt as the frost season approaches, but this, of course, 
is the case in many other orange regions of the world. As will 
be shown in a later chapter, Californians have achieved notable 
results in ])rotection of citrus fruits against frost injury. 

Situations not far distant from each other often dififer greatly 
in suitability for the orange, the chief elements of the variation 
being elevation, exposure and soil. The orange tree, to be thrifty 
and profitable, should have deep, rich, and permeable soil. The 
soil should be fairly retentive of moisture and yet not heavy 
enough to prevent escape of excess of water. It should be light 
enough to work readily in cultivation and yet not so loose as to 
dry out readily by evaporation or leaching. A first-class loam 
of adequate depth answers these requirements. Substrata of 
hard-pan or of sand and gravel are undesirable and have caused 
planters much loss and disappointment. r3ue examination 
should be made for such defects before planting. A subsoil of 
clay loam is not objectionable providing the surface is of lighter 
character. In fact, a clay loam i'^ being successfully used in 
several of our best orange districts — the chief objection to it 
being its disposition to be refractory in tillage. In some regions 
it is called "adobe" in contrast to the prevalent sandy soils of- 
the region, but it is not adobe in flie correct use of the term. 

A certain elevation above the low ground of the region is 
very desirable because of escape from frost, as already explained 
in Chapter ], and shelter from ciirrents of cold air is sometimes 
locally of much importance. The principles involved have 
already been discussed. 

These are presented as ideals in the selection of situation 
and support for orange trees. Of course there are trees grow- 



Orange Propagaiio7i. 353 

ing and bearing fruit in places and upon soils quite otherwise 
than as described; and in family orchards, where conditions do 
not absolutely preclude fruitage, the orange should find a place. 
Thrifty and profitable trees can be found even on adobe, where 
extra attention is given to timely and thorough cultivation. In 
selecting location for extended coinmercial planting, however, 
the very best situation should be diligently sotight for. The 
provision of irrigating facilities is governed by the conditions 
noted in Chapter XV. In certain places where moisture is sup- 
plied by natural underflow in an open soil which does not be- 
come soggy, good fruit has been produced without irrigation, 
but in situations otherwise best suited to the fruit, bearing trees 
will requife water. There have been losses and disappoint- 
ment by planting in excess of available water supply. On the 
other hand serious mistakes have been made in planting ra 
soils not capable of proper drainage. The orange tree is exact- 
ing of properly regulated water supply: if denied this it will 
yield poor fruit. 

PROPAGATION OF THE ORANGE. 

The orange is grown from cuttings, layers, and seeds. 
Growth from the seed is the method almost exclusively followed, 
and by far the best, but the others will be mentioned briefly. 

Grozvth from Citttings. — This method of propagation is de- 
scribed in the chapter on propagation. 

Grozvth. from Layers. — The orange roots readily by layer- 
ing, the drooping branches being partly cut through, buried in 
the soil with the terminal shoot above ground. Layers must 
be kept moist. Layering may be employed to obtain a few 
plants easily, but, otherwise, it cuts no figure in propagation. 
Layers and cuttings, of course, reproduce the original variety 
without recourse to budding. 

Grozvth from Seed. — Good plump seed should be selected 
in growing orange seedlings either for their own fruitage or to 
use as stocks for budding. V/hen seedlings for fruiting are 
grown, select seed from a choice variety in a situation where 
other citrus species are not grown; but the orange can not be 
trusted to come true from seed, and, more than this, the seed- 
ling class for fruiting purposes has been practically abandoned 
as unprofitable to plant, though fruit from old seedling trees is 
occasionally sold at a profit. 

The seed chiefly used in this State at present is obtained 
from cheap seedling fruit. When thoroughly decayed, the fruit 
is pulped by mashing in a barrel, and the mass is washed, a lit- 
tle at a time, on a coarse sieve, the pulp passing through, and 
the seed being caught on the wires, and pieces of skin thrown 
out. The plump seed will sink if thrown into water, and the 



354 ^^^^ Orange Nursery. 

imperfect can be skimmed from the top. The seed should never 
be allowed to dr>', and unless it is to be sown at once, should 
be stored by mixing with moist sand, from which it can be after- 
wards removed by sifting". The best time for sowing orange 
seed is after the ground has become warm in the spring. 

Orange seedlings are grown either in boxes or in the open 
ground. In either case a rich sandy loam which will not bake 
should be secured or artificially made by mixing sand with rich 
garden loam. Boxes of about two square feet area and six 
inches deep are convenient to handle. The bottom should have 
holes, or sul^cient crevices for good drainage. Fill the boxes 
about four inches with the prepared soil, place the seeds about an 
inch and a half apart each way, and sift over them about an inch 
of the soil, or a little less of the soil and a layer of clear sand if 
it is at hand. It is essential that the soil should be kept moist, 
and light sprinkling daily or each other day with water that 
has been warmed by standing in the sun, is desirable. Seed 
can be sown in boxes in the house at any time, if plenty of light 
and heat are given. If the boxes are to be out-of-doors, it is 
best to sow in the spring, and to rig up a cover of cheap cotton 
cloth, suspended about a foot above the surface, to prevent ef- 
fect of frost at night, and of burning by sun heat by day. The 
seedlings usually appear in about six weeks, and with good care 
in weeding and keeping sufficiently, but not excessively, moist, 
they will make a growth of about a foot th'e first season. Some 
growers collect the boxes in a sheltered place, and build over 
them a lath house, tacking on old sacks or other cloth, to shield 
from sun and frost. The lath house keeps animals from running 
over the boxes, etc. 

Growing seedlings in an open bed involves about the same 
operations. To guard against intrusion, it is advisable to make 
board sides to the bed about a foot high, and to make lath 
frames which will reach across, resting on the edge boards. A 
cloth sun-and-frost shade is also desirable, to be laid over the 
lath frames when it seems needed. Beds should be made nar- 
row enough so that one can easily reach half way across from 
each of the long sides for weeding, etc. In open seed beds it is 
usual to sow the seed broadcast. 

The Orange Nursery. — Planting out iu nursery is usually 
done after the ground is thoroughly warmed in the spring, and 
the seedlings are then about a year old. The preparation of 
nursery ground and the planting out of the seedhngs can be 
done as described in Chapter VIII. Orange seedlings should, 
however, be given greater distance apart than is usual for decid- 
uous trees, because the orange remains longer in nursery, and 
because it is often desirable, when taking up, to sack the ball of 



Young Navel Tree. 



355 



earth embracing the roots. If the roots are not to be sacked, 
about nine inches will do between the plants; if to be sacked, 
the distance should be twice as great. The rows should not be 
too close in the orange nursery. If horse cultivation is to be 
used, at least four feet between the rows should be allowed, and 
even greater distance is desirable. In taking the seedlings from 
the seed beds, a few should be lifted at a time, and their roots 
kept shaded and iiioist until the ground closes on them in the 




Bucided Navel Orange Tree, about Five Feet High. 

nursery row. To get an even stand in the nursery, small and 
weak plants should be placed by themselves, or set in boxes to 
ta'ke another year before going into nursery. 

Young trees in nursery are very liable to frost injury, and it 
is wise to protect them by some sort of a cover during the winter. 



356 Budding the Orange. 

A framework covered with cypress brush is often used, the 
whole being cleared away in the spring, to allow of summer cul- 
tivation. Cultivation of trees in nursery is about the same as 
with deciduous fruit trees. The horse should be used, and the 
surface kept perfectly pulverized. The cultivator should follow 
irrigation as soon as the soil will admit of it. Frequency of ir- 
rigation of nursery depends, of course, upon local conditions. 
Some give two or three irrigations, by running the water in 
a little trench alongside the rows, at intervals of two vveeks, for 
a time after planting, and then irrigate once a month during the 
summer. It is important that irrigation should not be continued 
too late into the fall, because the young tree should harden its 
wood before cold weather. Nor is it desirable that the growth 
be too rapid. A good growth of sound wood is better tnan 
extra size. 

Length of Time in Nursery. — Seedlings are usually budded 
after being one or two years in the nursery, or at two to three 
years from the planting of the seed. At a convenient time in 
the winter the lower shoots and thorns are removed from the 
seedlings, so as to leave a clear stem of about six inches, for the 
convenience of the budder. 

BUDDING THE ORANGE. 

The orange root is the best foundation for an orange tree, 
and the seed of the seedling sweet orange is the main reliance. 
The seedling of the Florida sour orange has been used to some 
extent to escape gum disease. It has not been a perfect re- 
course, though it seems to be agreed that the sour stock is much 
less likely to gum. Oranges have also been worked upon pom- 
elo seedlings, which force a strong growth, but time enough has 
not transpired to demonstrate results. Of course many lemon, 
and recently many pomelo trees, have been worked over to the 
orange, but in these cases the orange root was below the other 
wood. All lemon roots are not suitable for the orange. The 
Japanese practise of dwarfing with the dims trifoUata has never 
prevailed in this State. 

Budding is almost exclusively adopted in working in de- 
sirable varieties. The best time to bud is about the time the 
new growth starts on the seedling in the spring, though some 
practise budding in midsummer and fall. Good, well-matured 
buds only should be used; those from both base and tip of the 
shoots are frequently defective. The method of budding de- 
scribed in Chapter IX is that usually employed in budding cit- 
rus trees, and the rules for loosening the ligature, etc., are sim- 
ilar. Midsummer buds are apt to have soft growth at the com- 
ing of cold weather; fall buds remain dormant until spring; 
spring buds start to grow almost immediately, and have the ben- 



Budding the Orange. 357 

efit of the whole summer season for growth and maturing of 
wood. 

After the bud has started out well, the top of the stock 
should be removed at a short distance above the bud, and suck- 
ers on the old stock should be continually looked for and re- 
moved. The tender shoot of the bud is protected by tying to 
the stub, as shown in the engraving (from Lelong), and when 
the growth of the bud has become strong enough to support 
itself, the old stock is smoothly sawn away at the line O, and the 
wound covered with liquid grafting wax, or paint. 




Supporting the Bud. Cutting a Bud with a Thorn. 

The care of budded trees in nursery is similar to that of the 
seedlings of the previous year. If too great a tendency to branch 
low down is observed, the tips of the lower shoots should be 
pinched, but it is not desirable to underprune much; the reten- 
tion of the lower branches thickens the stem. Sometimes a 
very rank growth on the bud will need a stake to strengthen 
it or protect it from blowing out. The intrusion of gophers 
and other vermin should be resolutely and persistently guarded 
against. 

Working over Old Trees. — Old orange trees can be trans- 
formed into improved varieties either by budding or by graft- 
ing, as described at the close of Chapter IX, though re-working 
by grafting has been almost entirely superseded by budding. 
The common way to bud over an old tree is to cut back part of 
the branches and force out new shoots, the best of which are 
selected for budding and the others removed. Sometimes only 
a part of the tree is removed at first, and when the new buds 
have grown out on that, the other part is similarly treated. 

Recently the practise of budding into old bark has been 
widely adopted as the quickest way to secure a new tree. As 
with working into old bark in other trees it is necessar}^ to take 
an older bud and a larger, thicker shield of bark behind it, than 
when budding into younger stock. Some remove the wood 
from the back of the shield, but generally it is not done. The 
following is an outline of practise approved by the Redlands 
Horticultural Club: — 



358 Budding the Orange. 

Keep the buds carefully in a damp cloth. Slide the bud upward, above 
the cross-section. Bind around the bark, steering clear of the buds proper, 
a wrapping of waxed cloth, already prepared, three-fourths of an inch wide. 
When enough of this has been wrapped about the tree trunk or branch to 
keep the bark and the bud in place, rub the end of the muslin strip with the 
handle of the budding knife, down upon the muslin already wound about 
the bark. This will hold the waxed wrapping tirmly in place. From ten 
days to two weeks after the buds have been inserted, cut off the entire top 
of the tree, above the buds, and cover the stump of trunk or large branch 
with grafting wax — applied hot — with a brush. 

As soon as the wax is put on — and it must be put on as soon as the top 
is sawed off— whitewash the tree, over the waxed cloth, also over the bud, 
over every part of the tree that is left, except the stump ends, to which the 
hot wax has been applied. Immediately the buds will begin to grow. 
From ten days to two weeks after whitewashing take off the muslin wrap, 
and, if the work has been done carefully, in accordance with the above 
directions, 90 per cent of the buds will develop— perhaps more. A prime 
necessity for this work is a razor-sharp budding knife. 

There is a variation in practise in cutting back the stock 
above the bud. Instead of cutting back at once, heroically, as 
just described, some cut back part of the top at a distance above 
the bud; cutting down to the bud after it shows good strong 
growth, tying the young growth to the stub at first to protect it. 
Others insert the bud in the fall, cutting back to start the bud 
after the fruit on the old top is gathered. It is very important 
to watch for stickers below the bud and remove, or pinch them 
back, to inake a bunch of leaves. The growth from the bud it- 
self often needs .pinching to induce low branching. Twig-bud- 
ding can also be used on the orange by the method already de- 
scribed for the olive. 

Budding in old trees is best done in the spring, when the sap 
ilow is strong, but. as stated, can be done in the fall and the 
bud allowed to lie dormant until spring. 

PLANTING ORANGES IN ORCHARD. 

As already stated, orange trees are planted out at greater 
age than deciduous fruit trees. Budded trees are given one or 
two years' growth in nursery and one or two years' growth on 
the bud, which, added to the year in seed bed, makes them 
three to fottr years of age from the sowing of the seed. Seed- 
lings, to be planted out as such, are allowed two years' growth 
in the nursery, which makes them three years old trom the seed. 
For this length of time and the unusual care involved in their 
growth, taking up from imrsery and preparation for carriage, 
orange trees of planting age are of much greater cost than de- 
ciduous fruit trees. 

Since the growing of seedlings for their fruit has practically 
ceased, the distance between the trees in 'orchard planting has 
ranged from tw^enty to twenty-four feet. All the varieties now 



Moving Young Trees. 359 

propagated are quick to bear fruit and if properly shaped will 
find ample space in these distances — the greater distance on the 
richer soil as a rule. 

Preparation of land for orange planting by deep and thor- 
ough cultivation and laying off to secure straight rows by the 
square, quincunx, and hexagonal methods have been quite fully 
discussed in Chapter X, and Chapter XI has suggestions for 
planting, many of which are applicable to the setting of orange 
trees. There are, however, special methods employed in lifting 
the orange trees from the nursery rows and In placing them in 
permanent position, which will be outlined. 

The orange, in common with other evergreen trees, is ex- 
ceedingly sensitive to exposure of its roots, and for this reason 
the handling of the young trees is very different from that of or- 
dinary orchard trees. Three ways are employed for securing 
this constant moisture of the roots, as follows: — 

Packing in Wet Strazv. — As fast as the trees are lifted fro-m 
the nursery ground by digging carefully so as to loosen and 
secure all the roots possible, they are packed in damp and par- 
tially rotten straw, proper receptacles being at hand so that the 
roots are not exposed by carrying them any distance. In tak- 
ing up, all roots bruised by the spade are cleanly cut with a sharp 
knife. The taproot is cut away at a depth of a foot or so from 
the surface. This use of wet straw, if faithfully carried out, will 
answer well in taking trees short distances for planting, but the 
use of a puddle on the roots before packing in damp straw gives 
additional assurance of success. 

Puddling the Roots. — This method is also used for decidu- 
ous fruit trees, as mentioned in Chapter XL It consists in hav- 
ing a thin pudding of loamy soil with preponderance of sand 
rather than of clay, into which the roots are dipped as soon as 
the tree is lifted from the nursery. This mixture, which should 
be about as thick as cream, may be made in a hole in the ground, 
or, better still, in a box or cask large enough to allow complete 
plunging of the roots. As soon as dipped, and with all the mud 
which will adhere, the roots are packed in wet straw. If the 
trees are to remain thus packed for any length of time, the 
greatest care must be observed to keep the straw damp, and 
water must be applied gently to avoid washing the puddle from 
the roots. 

Sacking the Roots zvifh a Ball of Earth. — This is a very sat- 
isfactory way to move orange trees, and if it is well done, the 
tree does not wilt, and may be moved long distances and handled 
more freely than the puddled roots. To ball and sack trees, dig 
a trench along one side of the row about six inches awav from 
the trees, and about a foot and a half deep. Ry careful digging 



360 Planting Orange Trees. 

under each tree from this trench the taproot is reached, and sev- 
ered by a cut with a sharp spade. The side roots are also cut 
by thrusting the spade down on the three sides not opened by the 
trench. The top earth is carefully removed nearly down to the 
highest lateral roots, and after being sure that the roots are sev- 
ered all around, the tree is lifted out with the ball of earth which 
incloses the remaining roots. This ball is rounded ofif carefully 
and then placed on a half of a grain sack or other piece of bur- 
lap, the corners of which are drawn up and tied around the 
stem of the tree with baling rope. It is also an additional surety 
of safety to allow the baling rope to run vmder and around the 
ball to aid in holding it together. The balled trees must be 
carefully handled so as not to break the ball, which would result 
in tearing to pieces, as well as exposing, the roots. 

The manner of handling the trees depends somewhat upon 
the character of the nursery soil. Successful balling of course 
requires a certain amount of adhesiveness in the soil. 

One can not be too careful in the handling of orange trees. 
Though they will stand harsh treatment when in permanent 
place, they must be most carefully transplanted. Lifting from 
the nursery when the soil is too dry, exposure of the roots, or 
careless planting, will consign the tree to a slow, sickly growth, 
and often kill it outright. 

Cittfing Back at Transplanting. — The rule of reducing the 
top to compensate for the loss of roots, is vital in moving orange 
trees, but sometimes cutting back is carried too far and subse- 
quent growth is checked rather than promoted. Some grow- 
ers cut back the young trees a little while before lifting from the 
nursery. Some take of¥ all leaves after planting out, and claim 
that growth starts sooner and more strongly, but is doubtful 
whether defoliation is advisable, except in case of wilting, when 
it is necessary. 

Digging Holes and Setting Trees. — The same considerations 
which require extra care in lifting trees for nursery, rule in plac- 
ing them in i.)ermanent place. AH authorities on the subject 
specify exceptional care in preparing the tree holes as a profit- 
able investment on the part of the planter. Large and deep 
holes are commended, provided the planting is being done in a 
deep, free soil. Deep holes would be more injurious than bene- 
ficial in a tight subsoil, unless drainage were fvirnished, but there 
are good orange trees now bearing in such places — good enough 
at least to be an ornament and acceptable fruit producers for 
family use. 

On large-scale planting in deeply prepared soil, holes large 
enough to allow good spreading of the roots are sufficient. 
Handling the soil at planting has been fully described in Chap- 
ter XL and the importance of bringing the soil into firm contact 



Pi'U7iing the Orange. 361 

with the roots has been urged. The use of water in planting 
citrus fruit trees is especially desirable. Transplanting should 
be done just as the growth is starting in the late spring or early 
summer, and this is the opening of the dry season and rains can 
not be expected. Therefore when the roots are arranged and 
the top soil lightly tramped around them, water is run in the hole 
and the earth compacted around the roots by water settling. 
After the water has settled away, the hole is filled and the sur- 
face left loose to prevent evaporation. 

These instructions apply to the planting out trees which are 
taken up with long roots and puddled. In planting out balled 
trees, the sack is not removed, but after the tree is embedded 
in the earth, the tying rope is cut. The sack soon decays in the 
soil. 

Orange trees can be successfully transplanted at dififerent 
times of the year, but the best time, as just stated, is after the 
ground gets well warmed by the spring sunshine. The date at 
which this condition arri\ es depends upon locality. Experience 
seems to indicate that the young orange tree is in best condi- 
tion to transplant just as the new growth is starting out, and 
preferably when it has not grown out more than two inches. 

Great care must be taken that transplanted orange trees do 
not become dry after planting. The methods of irrigation are 
described in Chapter XV. Good cultivation should also attend 
the orange from its first planting onward. This subject is fully 
discussed in Chapter XTII. 

PRUNING THE ORANGE. 

All the considerations urged in Chapter XII in favor of 
low-headed and strongly-branched trees apply to the orange, 
though the habit of the tree in growth and Vjearing requires dif- 
ferent pruning policies. The orange tree is more disposed nat- 
urally to assume a good form than most other trees, and for this 
reason most experiened growers declare their belief in pruning 
as little as possilale. which is unquestionably good policy, provid- 
ing attention enough is given to securing a shapely and con- 
venient tree and to overcome the tendency in the young tree to 
run out very long shoots which result in unsynmietrical shoul- 
ders with hollows beneath them, or to assume a weeping habit, 
which interferes with irrigation and cultivation and prevents the 
development of good bearing space above. It is so easy to 
bring the orange into good shape by a little hard thinking about 
what shape is desirable and a very little timely cutting and pinch- 
ing to secure it. 

The orange tree should assume a compact wall of foliage. 
The interior of the tree is merely the framework to support this 

24 



362 



Good Form in the Orange. 



and pump sap into it. It has been held that it was necessary 
lo prune the young tree to quite a high head at first to allow for 
the natural droop of the branches and the result is seen in many 
young trees with slim stems and umbrella-like tops. It is better 
to develop a stout stem by allowing for a time a low growth upon 
it and then raise it later by removal of the lower growth which 
has done good service and outlived its usefulness. By wise 
underpruning it is possible not only to secure a shapely and con- 





Result of neglect in forming head. 



Fig. I. Orange tree at planting in 
orchard — 3 feet high. 




Better form secured by 
training. 



venient tree but also to so train the lower growth that it shall 
present good, low bearing wood without groveling in the dust. 
Unquestionably the drooping habit of budded orange trees 
is largely due to their treatment. A grower who does not be- 
lieve in pruning allows the branches to extend too far horizon- 
tally and the weight of the foliage and the early fruiting brings 
the branches to the ground. To relieve the lower branches of 
the young tree of a part of this weight will enable them to assume 
a better direction, and this slight relief at first will prevent much 



Training up the Orayige. 



363 



branch-sawing in later years. The young tree as it comes from 
the nursery usually starts upon an upright course. If stopped 
at about three feet it can be brought along to develop strong 
and well-arranged branches, much as has been described for de- 
ciduous fruit trees in Chapter XII. The adjacent engraving, 
Fig. I, shows a young tree in planting condition, stopped at 
three feet and needing only a slight cutting back of the laterals 
to be ready to begin its orchard life. If young trees are trans- 
planted short distances and at the right time they do not need 
so much cutting back as is commonly given them. If allowed 
to grow from the start shown in Fig. i, pruning only to prevent 




Fig. 2. Branch-form of Orange before Removal of Lower Branches. 

long branches from running out at random, and removing 
branches which may start strongly from near the base, the tree 
will assume the branch-form shown in Fig. 2 and at from two 
to three years after planting in the orchard. At about this age 
the removal of lower branches begins, as they have served their 
purpose in shading the trunk and bearing the first fruit. These 
branches are removed one by one until, when the tree is five 
years in the orchard, it has lost all branches below the two-feet 
line except the one branch marked "a" of which the upright- 
growing part will be retained. The higher branches assume the 



364 



Building Down the Orange. 



more horizontal habit, too great out-shooting is repressed and at 
about five years orchard-age the tree attains a height of about 
twelve feet and is of the general form shown in Fig. 3. The next 
few months will bring its foliage to the ground to remain there 
or to be under-trimmed, as the notion of the grower may be. 

BUILDING DOWN AND NOT SAGGING DOWN. 

It is perfectly feasible and rational to secure a good form 
of low tree without removal of large branches and without rely- 
ing upon the sag of the branches from a high head. It requires 
rather more watchfulness and attention and study of the subject 
than some growers desire to give, but the results when attained 




Fig. 3. Good Form of Five-year-old Orange Tree. 

are very satisfactory. The method is that of J. H. Reed, of 
Riverside, and has been followed by him for a number of years 
with his own orchard and others of which he has had charge. 
It will be found readily intelligible with the help of the sketches. 
Mr. Reed would begin with a young nursery tree like that al- 
ready shown in Fig. i. He does not believe in much cutting 
back before planting providing a fair amount of roots are left 
in the ball at transplanting. If the tree has been properly 
planted and cared for, it will soon begin to put out new growth, 
usually first along the stem, the strongest growth being lowest 
down. As many of these young branches along the stem as are 
not desired for permanent branches, are rubbed off, the earlier 
the better, at least before woody fiber is deposited in them. Mr. 
Reed rubs off promptly all below a point about two feet from the 
ground, if there is a prospect of getting sufficient good branches 
above that point. If not he saves them down eight or even 
twelve inches lower if need be. 



Stroigth and Upright?tess. 



365 



Mr. Reed's idea is to build the head along a considerable 
length of the trunk and not have the branches bunched at the 
top, and this is the same idea that is urged in the development 
of the trunk of the deciduous fruit tree in Chapter XII. He 
finds it impossible to do this in the nursery, because if it is at- 
tempted to form a head 18 or 24 inches along the upper portion 
of the stem instead of one bunched near the top of it, the lower 
branches will appropriate most of the sap and the upper portion 




Fig. 4. Branch-form of Orange Six Months after Planting. 



will not be well developed; while if this upper story is well es- 
tablished in the nursery the lower portion can be built on with- 
out detriment to the upper, if nutriment sufficient for both is 
furnished. Fig. 4 will show approximately the branch-form of 
the young tree at about six months from planting and the shoots 
with which the building-dovv-n is begun. The first step is to 
check the drooping habit. Upon this point Mr. Reed says: — 

The common notion that the branch of the Navel orange naturally 
tends down is a mistake which grows out of the tact that in its rapid 
growth the new part of the stems and large leaves are so loaded with 
sap that they pull the stems from their natural upright position, and, 
unless relieved, hold them there till the deposit of woody fiber fixes the 
branches in the drooping or unnatural position. If the tips of these 
rapidly-growing branches, with their heavy leaves, be clipped at the right 
time, the branches will spring back to the erect position, where they will 
remain to send out new branchlets. It is wonderful how the orange 
tree can be molded like a thing of wax by pinching and clipping here 
and there, if done at the right time. 



366 



Orange Prjcning Ilhistrated. 




Fig. s- Tendency of clipped branches to rise. 




Fig. 6. 
Branch-form of five-year-old tree built down. 



Fig. 7. 
Foliage-form of five-year-old tree. 



Later Pruning of the Orange. 367 

Fig. 5 shows the result of this dipping of heavy shoots to 
allow them to assume a more upright growth and the encourage- 
ment of new shoots below the two-foot mark. Fig. 6 gives the 
branch-form of a five-year-old tree, with its lower story of bear- 
ing wood well developed, and Fig. 7 is the foliage-form of the 
same tree, about fifteen feet high, with its leaves and fruit reach- 
ing to the ground. As to how low the branches should be al- 
lowed, Mr. Reed says that until recently he has thought it best 
to keep the lower branches clipped back so that the fruit would 
not touch the ground, but he is persuaded that it is better to let 
them come to the ground even if considerable fruit rests on it. 
He finds that many of the best orchardists do this, and claim that 
there are really less culls among the fruit on the ground than on 
the less -protected branches above. 

Later Pruning of the Orange. — After the form of the orange 
is well established the aim should be to preserve a compact wall 
of foliage of symmetrical and convenient form. It is desirable 
that weak wood should be removed. As to the removal of dead 
interior branches, which have given up the struggle for the'light, 
the theory is that they should be removed: the practise is that 
they very seldom are. It is an appalling undertaking tO' get 
into the inside of an old orange tree and saw ofT and drag out 
the dead wood. We can not settle the question: each reader 
must adjust it to the satisfaction of his own conscience. Some 
accomplish this by claiming that the interior dead branches help 
to sustain the weight of the live ones. There is, however, a 
reasonable amount of thinning to be done. The clipping back 
of ambitious shoots multiplies laterals. There should be a com- 
plete wall of leaves, but the crowding of leaves on leaves excludes 
light and air and weakens the tree by lessening the vigor of leaf- 
action. Dead twigs which appear among good bearing shoots 
should always be removed. The gourmand shoots or suckers 
should be repressed, unless, by clipping, one can be turned into 
a branch where a branch is needed. 

DISEASES OF THE ORANGE. 

The orange is thus far subject to few diseases in California. 
The most grievous is the so-called gum disease, which is analo- 
gous to the gumming of other trees and will be discussed in the 
chapter treating of tree diseases. Cracking of the fruit will also 
be mentioned in that chapter. 

There are several serious insect enemies of the orange, 
which will be discussed in the chapter on that subject. The 
"black smut," which makes leaves and fruit unsightly in some 
parts of the State, is a fungoid growth upon the exudations of 
insects, and can be prevented by removing its cause. 



368 



The Navel Oraiigc. 



VARIETIES OF THE ORANGE. 

Though many varieties of the orange have been introduced 
in Cahfornia, but few are generally grown. During the last 
few years there has been a pervading disposition to concentrate 
upon the Washington Navel, and, except to get other varieties 
either earlier or later to extend the season, there seems little rea- 
son to go beyond the Navel for commercial purposes. Not only 
have recent plantmgs been predominantly of this variety, but old 
trees of other kinds have been very largely budded over to it, and 
this work is still going on at a rapid rate. 




The Navel Orange, Showing Characteristic Mark. 



Of the few varieties which are now largely grown the fol- 
lowing is the ripening season: — 

Navel and Seedlings. November to May; Malta Blood, 
March to June; Mediterranean Sweets. April to July; St. 
Michaels, May to July; Tardiff, June to September. 

Woshhiiiton yairl (Rahia. BirersMe I\^arcl). — This orange is the most 
popular of all foreign varieties grown in this State. Fruit large, solid, 



The Washington Navel. 



369 



and heavy; skin smooth and of a very fine texture; very juicy; high 
flavored, with melting pulp; is practically seedless, only in exceptional 
cases are seed found; tree is a good and prolific bearer, medium thorny, 
a rapid grower, although it does not attain a very large size; bears when 
very young, commencing to bear as early as one year old from the bud; 
ripens early. This variety was imported from Bahia, Brazil, in 1870, by 
!Mr. W. Sanders, of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, and 
in 1S74 two trees were received from Washington by Mrs. Tibbetts. of 
Riverside, Cal. Trees were also received about the same time by Ale.x- 
ander Craw, but the Riverside trees were first in fruit, and the excellence 
of the variety being at once recognized, it was propagated rapidly and 
took the name Riverside Navel from the place where its characteristics 
were first made known. As it came to be grown largely in other dis- 
tricts as well, a broader name, recognizing its receipt from the national 
capital, was adopted, and is likely to stand. 




Cross-section of Improved Navel Orange. 



There is some variation m the Washington Navel, and higher types 
are to be found involving departures in the direction of thinness and 
silkiness of rind, etc., as well as interior characters. The most promi- 
nent of these is an improved Navel which A. C. Thomson, of Duarte, 
Los Angeles County, claims is a sub-variety, produced by a process of 
propagation, which he does not disclose, but whether the excellency of 
the fruit is to be attributed to his method or to the exceptionally favor- 
able soil and climate of his location, or whether he has merely a natural 



370 



Varieties of the Orange. 



variation of especially good points, is not fully established. It has re- 
cently advanced in favor among planters. 

Australian Navel.— A coarser type of the Navel introduced from 
Australia in 1874 by Lewis Wolfskill, of Los Angeles, and largely prop- 
agated formerly. It has now been practically abandoned for the Wash- 
ington Navel. It seems to be of more account at some points in the 
San Joaquin Valley than elsewhere. 




Valencia Late. 



Maltese Blood. — Fruit small to medium, oval ; flesh fine texture and 
flavor, streaked and mottled with red; few seeds. The tree is thornless 
and regular and heavy bearer. 

Ruby. — Medium size, roundish; when ripe often reddened by deep 
red pulp within; juicy and sprightly, often rather acid; tree vigorous, 
thornless and a good bearer. 

Mediterranean Szueet. — Fruit medium to large, pulp and skin of fine 
texture, very solid and few seeds; ripens late, often not until May 
or June. The tree is thornless and of dwarf habit of growth and is in- 
clined to overbear. It was at one time the most widely-distributed 
variety in the State, next to the Washington Navel, but has recently 
been largely budded over. It was introduced and named by T. A. 
Garej', of Los Angeles. 

Paper Rind St. Michael. — Fruit* small, round, very firm and very 
juicy; pale, thin skin; very elegant in appearance. It ripens late and 
keeps well on the trees as late as August; tree is of dwarf habit, medium 
thorny, a good bearer, and very desirable. 



Varieties of the Orange. 



371 




Paper Rind St. Michael. 

Valencia Late (Hart's Tardiif). — Medium si-ie, oblong, pale yellow; 
fiesh rich, deep yellow, sprightly and crisp; tree a strong grower, slightly 
thorny. Ripens late, and valuable for late shipping. 




Mediterranean Sweet. 



Tangerine, or Kid Glove. — Fruit fiat, small to medium, reddish; skin 
separating readily from the pulp; flesh juicy and aromatic. 

Satsuina (Unshiu Ooiisliiu). — A considerable acreage of this variety, 
planted ten years ago on dwarfing stock, has availed very little commer- 
cially. At present there is disposition to grow the variety on sweet 



372 



The Pomelo. 



orange stock because of its earliness. Tree quite hardy, fruit irregular 
in size, bvit usually medium size, flattened; rind easily detached; fine 
texture, sweet and nearly seedless. 

Kincquat (Citrus Jnponica). — Fruit very small, oblong or olive shape:', 
rind thick, yellow, smooth; sweet-scented; very little pulp; containing 
many seeds: tree dwarf (a bush), a prolific bearer, 




Maltese Blood. 



THE POMELO. 



This citrus fruit achieved a very sudden interest in CaHfor- 
nia because of the prices commanded by Florida pomeloes about 
five years ago. W'hen this supply of eastern cities was cut off 
by the serious frost injuries in Florida there arose a passion tor 
planting the trees in California, and a considerable acreage was 
planted, and as the tree is a very rapid grower and precocious 
in fruit-bearing, large shipments were made in 1898, but the re- 
sults were not satisfactory, and unless some new conditions 
should arise it is possible that the California pomelo passion may 
subside as rapidly as it uprose. 

The fruit is a Shaddock (citnts dccumana). A'arieties have 
been secured of smaller size and of blander flavor than the 
coarse, sour and acrid fruit which is suggested by its name. An 
effort has been made to secure the favorite varieties, and a large 
list has been planted in this State, but the fruit does not com- 
mand the place at the East which was awarded to the Florida 
product. As a tree the pomelo most nearly resembles the orange 
and its culture is the same. As for varieties, California experi- 
ence has been too brief and fitful to demonstrate particular value 
or adaptation in them. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
THE LEMON, LIME, ETC. 

The lemon has undergone many vicissitudes in Cahfornia. 
At first the product was confined to poor seedHngs which did 
not merit favor and did not receive it. Constant effort was then 
put forth to secure varieties which would be comparable with 
the Sicilian fruit and the efTort resulted in the production of lem- 
ons which were approved by every test of excellence. The next 
difficulty was to secure popular recognition of quality and desir- 
ability from those who were prejudiced in favor of imported 
fruit. With the aid of the protective tariff this favor was se- 
cured in less time than would have been otherwise required, and 
now the California lemon is highly esteemed upon its merits 
everywhere and the tariff neutralizes the advantage of cheap 
water transportation from the Mediterranean region so that our 
lemons can compete with the foreign product even in the cities 
of the Atlantic seaboard. All this has been accomplished within 
a decade, and it is a notable result. One measure of this fact 
may be found in the shipment of about twelve hundred car-loads 
during the season of 1898. 

As the lemon outlook began to improve planting increased, 
and in 1894 a very large acreage was set, both on the coast of 
southern California and in the interior. More recently there 
has been a tendency to relegate the lemon rather to the coast 
region and increase the orange acreage in the interior. This 
seems warranted by recent experience, 

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE LEMON. 

The lemon does best in a practically frostless situation. Such 
places are found in largest area in the southern half of the coast 
regions of California, but also exist at favoring elevations in the 
interior. The moderating influence of proximity to salt water, 
and the effect of local topography and environment, which give 
frost-free nooks or belts, are elements favoring the lemon grower. 
In such situations the lemon blooms and fruits continuously 
throughout the year. 

While the lemon requires a less extreme of low temperature 
than the orange, it also thrives with a less extreme ol high tem- 

(373) 



374 Propagating the Lemon. 

perature and less duration of it. It apparently does not require 
as much heat to develop acid, which is the charm of the lemon, 
as it does sugar, which is essential to an acceptable orange; 
therefore, a coast situation which may not yield a sweet orange 
may produce a good lemon. Another advantage of the lower 
summer temperature is that the continuous ripening is not inter- 
fered with, as it is by high summer heat, which hastens maturity 
and brings the mass of the fruit to marketable condition in the 
winter — a season when the demand for the lemon is very small. 
This objection is, however, being measurably overcome by the 
proper storage and treatment of the fruit for sale, at a consider- 
able interval after picking, as will be mentioned presently. 

The lemon delights in a sandy loam, and probably our best 
orchards are on such soil, but the trees thrive in other soils. 
There is a difiference of opinion among growers as to what soil 
is to be especially sought for. There are profitable lemon or- 
chards in southern California located upon deep clay loams, and 
even upon strong red clay soils. As with some other fruits, the 
choice of soil is. to a certain extent, governed by the stock on 
which the lemon is worked. 

PROPAGATING AND PLANTING. 

The prevailing stock for the lemon is the orange seedling. 
The orange root thrives on a greater variety of soils than the 
lemon, and produces a healthy lemon tree where the lemon on 
its own root would fail. The growth of orange seedlings for 
budding has been described in the last chapter. If lemon seed- 
lings are desired they may be grown in the same way. Plants 
either for permanent growth or for stocks for budding can be 
grown from cuttings, as explained in Chapter VIII. The bud- 
ding of the lemon is practically the same as of the orange, which 
has been described. An old tree can be changed from one vari- 
ety to another by the methods described for the orange, and 
oranges can be worked into old lemon trees and good fruit se- 
cured if the lemon itself be growing upon an orange root, which 
is likely to be the case with trees planted during the last decade. 

Planting of the lemon is the same as that of the orange. 
The distance in planting varies from twenty to twenty-five feet. 
Irrigation of lemon and orange trees is also similar. 

PRUNING THE LEMON. 

The pruning of the lemon is essentially different from that 
of the orange, because the habit of the tree is dififerent. The 
lemon requires constant attention to bring it into good bearing 
form and keep it there; the orange, after it is well shaped, simply 
needs attention to encourage it to retain the bearing form to 



Pruning the Lemon. 375 

which it seems naturally disposed. The orange provides itself 
with satisfactory bearing wood, as a rule; the lemon devotes it- 
self, even when it is old enough to know better, to a rangy ram- 
bling wood growth with bearing v/ood upon the ends of willowy 
rods where it is swept about in the wind and burned in the sun, 
instead of nestling it neatly among the leaves as the orange does. 

The rational proceeding with the lemon is, then, to develop 
it at first into a low, stocky and strong form, such as is described 
in Chapter XII for deciduous trees. This may be secured by 
pinching so as not to allow running out of long branches at first, 
or it may be secvired by severe cutting back of the long growths 
of the young tree. In either case low branching will be secured. 
Make good selection from these branches to form a symmetrical 
tree and cut back the growth which comes upon them to causfe 
it to branch in its turn. In this way plenty of good, strong 
wood is secured low down, and with short distances between. the 
laterals. Strong, upright shoots (wrongly called "suckers") 
which break out at points where branches are not desired, should 
be rubbed ofif or cleanly cut away. Having secured about the 
right branching in about the right places no strong sprouts 
should be allowed, and the tree should be encouraged to make 
smaller laterals, which will be the bearing wood. 

When this purpose is borne in mind it appears that the 
pruning of the lemon involves many of the considerations urged 
in Chapter XII for deciduous fruits: the method of making a 
strong, short trunk, the arrangement of branches, the preven- 
tion of long growths, the encouragement of low, bearing twigs, 
the thinning of twigs to prevent the tree from becoming too 
dense, the points to be observed in cutting back, not by shear- 
ing but by treating each branch according to its position and 
vigor — all these must be borne in mind by the lemon pruner. 
It must also be remembered that the work must be resolutely 
continued and the tree always prevented from wild growth and 
kept down to bearing on the smaller twigs, which are promoted 
and retained for that purpose. The building-down process de- 
scribed for the young orange is easily applicable to the lemon. 

Old lemon trees which have been allowed to grow away 
into a long, rangy form and to bear fruit too high for profit, can 
be brought down to good form by severe cutting back and after- 
treatment of the new shoots, keeping the smaller horizontal 
growths and cutting out cleanly the strong upright shoots, or 
cutting them back if more branches are needed. The time 
for pruning the lemon depends upon the end in view; if a 
young tree, to promote wood growth, prime at the opening of 
the growing season in the spring; in older trees, to repress 
growth and advance fruiting, prune in midsummer. 



376 Lemon Curhig and Storage. 

PREPARATION OF LEMONS FOR MARKETING. 

The lemon as taken from the tree is not in condition for 
marketing except to packers who wisli to undertake the curing. 
To secure best resuhs in quaHty and in keeping properties, 
the lemon should be carefully cut from the tree as soon as 
proper size is reached. To allow the fruit to hang upon the 
tree until lemon color is assimied, gives a lemon which is de- 
ficient in juice, oversized, apt to develop bitterness, and prone 
to decay. If gathered before the color begins to turn, lemons 
may be kept for months, and they will improve in market quali- 
ties, by a thinning and toughening of the skin, and by increase 
of juice contents. This curing of tlie fruit, as it is called, is ac- 
complished in many simple ways. If the fruit is gathered and 
placed in piles under the trees, where, with low-headed trees, it 
is completely shaded by the foliage, it processes well and comes 
out beautiful in color and excellent in quality, providing it is a 
good variety. Some have trusted wholly to this open-air curing 
under the trees, merely protecting the fruit by a thin covering 
of straw, or other light, dry materials. Others let the fruit lie 
a few days under the trees, carefully shaded from the sun, and 
place it in boxes or upon trays, and keep it months in a darkened 
fruit-house, providing ventilation but guarding the fruit against 
draughts of air. Gathering the fruit while still green, and pack- 
ing with alternate layers of dry sand, has given excellent mar- 
ketable fruit, but of course the handling of so much sand is too 
expensive. 

Much attention has been given to lemon storage in southern 
California during the last few years and many curing and storage 
houses have been constructed. Naturally there is great varia- 
tion in design and in methods of operation. The essential con- 
ditions to be secured are exclusion of light; regulation of tem- 
perature; ample ventilation, under control, however, so as to 
prevent entrance of air which is too dry or hot; convenience and 
cheapness of handling, for the lemon is expensive in handling 
at best during the months of storage which is often desirable. 
The way these and incidental requirements are met in one of 
the latest constructions and in the methods of the owner can be 
best shown by reference to the operations of Mr. A. S. Gaylord, 
of Cucamonga, San Bernardino County, who secures admirable 
results with a house of moderate cost, of which plans and a gen- 
eral view are presented herewith. 

Lemon-Curing House. — This lemon house is almost a house 
within a house — the outer building enclosing an area 30x100 
feet, the inner apartment being divided into five rooms of 18x20 
feet each. Between the outer walls and the inner rooms is a 
hallway (marked G on the plans) five feet wide in front and four 



Mr. Gaylord' s Lemon House. 



2>n 



feet on the other three sides. These rooms and hallway have 
a twelve-foot ceiling. The outer and inner walls, the ceiling, 
and the first or inner roof are all of six-inch tongue and groove 
redwood ceiling. Three feet above this inner roof of ceiling B 
is the outside roof of shakes A, connected with the inner roof 
only by its braces, and extending to within eight feet of the 
ground, where it is supported by four-inch posts and forms a 
ten-foot porch H oii the north and south sides. It is simply a 
big sun umbrella shading the real building and allowing a free 
circulation of air about it. A double row of eucalyptus trees 
shades the eastern end, and a lean-to roof forming a ten-foot 
porch answers the same purpose on the west. 




Leiii.-.i. Ik 



Jvii. A. o. Ud 



The building extends from east to west in its greatest 
length, being so placed in order to receive the full sweep of the 
westerly winds between the sun and inner roofs. The loft C, 
between the ceiling and inner roof, is ventilated by eight open- 
ings 4x4 feet, D, one in each end and three on each side, directly 
opposite each other, those on the sides appearing on the outer 
roof as gables or dormer windows, with air chutes extending 
back into the loft. These openings are kept closed during the 
heat of the day by means of a pair of closely-iitting doors, and 
opened about sunset, permitting a free circulation of the cool 
night air through the loft. Eacli of the inner rooms F is con- 
nected with the outer air by flumes /, 6x8 inches, running from 
each floor corner of each room, under the hallway to the out- 
side of the building; also by eight-inch pipes from the centers 
of the ceilings, extending through the roofs and terminating in 



25 



378 



Plans of Lemon House. 



"Star" ventilators E five feet above the outer roof. The cir- 
culation of the air is regulated by slides. Each of the rooms is 
connected with the front and back halls by sliding doors /, seven 
feet wide by eight feet high, and the hall with the outside by 
folding doors of the same dimensions directly opposite those of 
the rooms. These doors are large enough to permit an orchard 
truck to drive into the rooms to unload the fruit. The rooms 




M 





a /, 




-h 


F 


r 


/ F y 


F 


F 


/ 




J a 





Ji 



Sectional and Ground Plan of Lemon House. 



are also connected with each other and the end rooms with the 
end halls by sliding doors. Thus by opening all the doors 
there will be a free circulation of air through the whole build- 
ing. Trap-doors in the ceiling of the hallway allow the warm 
air to rise into- the loft and escape. The house has no windows, 
as complete darkness seems to be necessary for the best results. 
The floor is of clay. The capacity of the house is about 6,000 
picking boxes or twelve car-loads. Experience has shown that 



Varieties of the Lemon. 379 

Ihe temperature in this house did not rise much, if at all, above 
eighty-five degrees during the hottest days, when the mercury 
outside, in the shade, went as high as one hundred and fourteen 
degrees. The temperature of the fruit was very much less, 
probably not more than seventy degrees, as the temperature of 
the house in the early morning was often as low as sixty-five 
degrees. 

Suggestions for Lemon Storage. — The need of prevention of 
temperature extremes and of ample ventilation is pointedly sug- 
gested in the description of Mr. Gaylord's lemon house. Other 
essentials are to pick the fruit of uniform size — just to- fit a two 
and one-quarter-inch ring — it will lose one-eighth of an inch in 
curing. Cut the stem close to the fruit; never pluck from the 
tree, and never allow the slightest bruising. Lemons picked in 
November and December, before touched by any frost, will 
keep till the followmg July if properly stored. Later fruit will 
not keep so well, and should be marketed first. Later pickings 
may be two and three-eighths inches in diameter, but no lemon 
should be above two and five-eighths inches. In the house the 
lemons may be kept on trays or in boxes with piling loose 
enough to admit air. There are many details which can only 
be learned by conference with experienced men or by individual 
experience. 

VARIETIES OF LEMONS FOR CALIFORNIA. 

During the last quarter of a century there have been efforts 
put forth to secure better lemon varieties. Recently three varie- 
ties have been accepted as satisfactory and nearly all others 
have been dropped. The three are Eureka, Lisbon, and Villa 
Franca, arranged according to present degree of popularity in 
southern California. Taking the whole State in view, the Villa 
Franca stands first. 

Lisbon.— ^Imported from Portugal; first grown by D. M. Burnham, 
of Riverside. Fruit uniformly medium size, rather oblong, fine grain, 
thin sweet rind, strong acid; few seeds; a good keeper; tree is a strong 
grower, with compact foliage, prolific bearer, but starts bearing late; 
quite thorny, but thorns decrease in size as the tree grows older. Pop- 
ular at interior points especially. 

Villa Franca. — Imported from Europe. Medium size, oblong, slightly 
pointed at the blossom end, rind thin, without bitterness, acid, strong, 
juicy, nearly seedless. Tree thornless, branches spreading and some- 
what drooping, foliage abundant; withstands lower temperature than 
other imported varieties. At present the most largely propagated 
variety. 

Genoa. — Imported from Genoa by Don lose Rubio, of Los Angeles. 
Medium size, oval, sweet rind, thornless. and nearly seedless. Tree is 
of a dwarf habit, a good keeper, one of the best. 

Eureka. — A native of California, originated by C. R. Workman, at 
Los Angeles, from seed imported from Hamburg in 1872, only one seed 



380 Tlie Lime and Citron. 

growing, from which buds were put by him on orange stock. Dis- 
tributed by T. A. Garey, of Los Angeles. Tree very free from thorns. 
Fruit medium size, sweet rind, a good keeper, few seeds; very popular, 
especially in coast regions. Rejected in interior because of scant 
foliage. 

Bonnie Brae. — Originated with H. M. Higgins, of San Diego County, 
and profitably grown by him for many years. Still grown, but chiefly 
in southern San Diego County. Rind very thin and smooth and like a 
lime. 

THE LIME. 

The lime {Citrus medica acida) has proved much less hardy 
than the lemon. It has been killed in situations where the 
orange and lemon have not been injured. Unless adequate 
protection is thought worth the effort, there is little use in plant- 
ing the lime, except in a frostless situation. Such localities are 
foimd near the ocean in southern California, and here and there 
at proper elevation in the interior, but the growth of the lime 
must be counted very hazardous. There is less inducement to 
experiment with the fruit from the fact that the Pacific Coast 
markets are well supplied with Mexican limes, usually at prices 
which leave no opportimity for competitors. 

Limes are grown from seed, the variety usually coming- 
true from seed. The .trees are small and are frequently grown 
in hedge form. The common variety is the Mexican. The 
Imperial, a large, rather hardy variety is favorably reported by 
several growers. 

THE CITRON. 

This fruit {Citrus medica cedra) is little grown in California, 
although it is quite hardy and could be produced over a large 
area. The only use for the fruit, which resembles a monstrous 
lemon, is in its candied rind, and no one has deemed it worth 
while to push competition with the imported candied citron, 
though very fine experimental lots have been produced, and the 
interest of the fruit-preserving establishments in the product re- 
curs periodically. There have been collections of citron trees im- 
ported from the Mediterranean region by the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture planted at several points in southern 
California. As yet no considerable product has been reached. 
There is, however, no cessation of interest, and experimental 
planting continues, with a prospect of satisfactory attainment 
erelong. Samples of the candied article have been approved 
by experts as very satisfactory. 

ORNAMENTAL CITRUS SPECIES. 

There are grown in this State for curiosity or ornament 
various minor citrus species, including the dwarf ornament sorts 
from Asia, and the Bergamot, There are, of course, the orna- 
mental species grown by florists for their fragrant bloom. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

MINOR SEMITROPICAL FRUITS. 

A number of interesting fruits are now grown in this State 
which, for one reason or another, have not yet attained any 
great commercial importance. Some of them are quite hkely to 
advance in popular esteem and to gain a higher place in the 
markets. Others will probably never be grown except for 
home use and garden ornament. 

THE BANANA. 

The banana has been a favorite plant for experimental cul- 
ture for many years, and though good fruit has been grown at 
various points in the .State, the culture is too hazardous to war- 
rant large investment, and if this danger was not present, the 
abundant supplies available from the islands of the Pacific would 
probably reduce the profits to a narrow margin. The banana 
can be trusted only in protected situations and in small numbers 
which can be given special attention. With these conditions 
the banana may yield very acceptable fruit for home use and be 
an ornament to the garden. Its beauty is, however, seriously 
impaired by winds, which whip its tender leaves into shreds and 
give the plant an unkempt appearance. 

The largest number of bananas are seen in Los Angeles 
and Santa Barbara, and one grower at an elevation near the lat- 
ter place reports his table supplied daily throughout the year 
with the fruit of the Cavendish species. The Yellow Mar- 
tinique or Yellow Costa Rica, Golden Tahiti, Hart's Choice, and 
a large-fruited variety known in Los Angeles County as the 
Baldwin, are also approved by growers. How to grow bananas 
in the garden, according to the experience of the late S. H. Ger- 
rish, of Sacramento, is as follows: — 

By experiment 1 have found that the banana will live — if in a proper 
soil — without injury to the roots, at a temperature as low as sixteen 
degrees Fahr. ; the stalk will stand a temperature of twenty-five degrees 
without injury, and the leaves are not wilted until the air is chilled to 
thirty degrees. My method has been to supply the richest food for this 
gigantic plant and force it to its extreme growth. Every one has old 
chip dirt, ashes, boots, shoes, clothes, and manure, which are often a 
nuisance. Dig a big hole, bury this up, in the center of the mass place a 

(381) 



382 The Cherimoyer. 

pailful of sand, and plant the fresh bulb. This is to preserve the dor- 
mant plant from the wire-worms and insects, which will not attack the 
growing plant. As the plant grows, give it an abundance of water and 
all the slops of the house. Any kind of manure, fresh or old, ashes, 
leaves, and vegetables will soon disappear and be absorbed by this 
gigantic king of plants. As the rainy season approaches, pile all the 
leaves and twigs of trees around the plants. It protects the bulbs and 
makes the soil rich for next season. 

THE CHERIMOYER OR PERUVIAN CUSTARD APPLE. 

The oddest cherimoyer (Anoiia cherimolia) is growing in 
Santa Barbara. The fruit was introduced about thirty-seven 
years ago, and the parent tree has for many years produced 
abundant fruit in such perfection that the seeds have readily 
germinated, and trees thus propagated have been in successful 
bearing in several Santa Barbara gardens. The leaves are oval 
and pointed at both ends; flowers solitary, very fragrant, and 
having a greenish color. Good specimens of the fruit are three 
or four inches in diameter, often heart-shaped, grayish brown 
or nearly black when fully ripe. The flesh, in which thirty or 
forty brown seeds are found, is soft, sweet, and pleasant to the 
taste, being most palatable when near decay. Mr. I. H. Cam- 
mack, of Whittier, describes the pulp as of the consistency of 
ice cream or a custard flavored with a blending of pineapples 
and bananas. If it has a fault it is too rich. Apparently it has 
no particular season for ripening, yet the best specimens seem 
to be found in .Santa Barbara in April and May. The cheri- 
moyer is also found in gardens in San Diego and Los Angeles 
Counties. It needs a well-protected situation. The fruit has 
been marketed on a limited scale in Los Angeles, and larger 
plantations have been made, especially in the Cahuenga Valley, 
near Los Angeles. The plant comes true from seed and the 
tree bears in its fourth year, and should have as much room as 
an orange tree. 

THE CHOCHO OR CHAYOTA. 

The chocho plant is fruiting in Santa Barbara County, for 
Mr. Kinton Stevens, of Montecito, who obtained the seed from 
Samoa. Sechium edule is the botanical name of this plant, but 
it is perhaps better known as "choco," "chocho," "chayota," 
and "Portuguese squash." It belongs to the order cucurbi- 
tacae, and is a perennial vine, resembling in growth and fruit our 
summer squash or vegetable marrov/. It is a very prolific 
bearer. Both the fruit and the great yam-like tuber are used as 
food by man and beast in the West Indies, where it is considered 
a wholesome article of diet. The roots often weigh as much as 
twenty pounds. They have a flavor similar to the yam, and are 
considered a greater delicacy than the fruit, which in a raw state 



I 



The Giiava and Loquat. | 383 

resembles the chestnut in flavor, and under favorable conditions 
weighs over three pounds. The proper way to grow them is to 
plant the whole fruit, as they have but one seed, and they pro- 
duce fruit in three months, under favorable conditions. 

THE GUAVA. 

Two species of guava have been quite widely tried in this 
State — the strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyannm) and the 
lemon guava (Psidium guayava). The former is the hardier, 
and, in fact, seems to be about as hardy as the orange, and it 
has fruited in widely-separated parts of the State; the latter is 
quite tender, and is at present only grown in favorable places 
along our southern coast, and even there it is found inferior in 
quality and usefulness to the strawberry guava. The guava 
grows readily from the seed, and grows from cuttings under 
glass. In regions of generous rainfall and on retentive soil it 
does not require irrigation, but it must have sufficient moisture 
at command. A light loam seems best adapted to the shruD. 

THE GRANADILLA. 

The granadilla is the term applied to the edible fruit of a 
species of passion vine (Passiiiora edulis) which is quite hardy, 
and is growing in different parts of the State. The fruit is about 
the size of a small hen's egg, purple exterior when ripe, the thin, 
brittle shell inclosing a mass of small seeds covered with a 
bright yellow pulp, mildly acid, and of ven'^ agreeable flavor. 
A'^ery good jelly has been made of the fruit. Another passion 
vine with large pink flowers is very widely distributed in Cali- 
fornia, and bears a large, yellowish-brown fruit with edible pulp. 

THE JUJUBE. 

The jujube (Zyziphus jujube), from the fruit of which the 
-delicate paste of the confectioner is, or should be, made, was in- 
troduced by G. P. Rixford in 1876, and is fruiting regularly and 
freely in several parts of the State. The plant is easily grown 
from seed or cuttings. The orange-red berries are produced 
three years from planting, and ripen in November and Decem- 
ber. They are edible fresh or dried. As yet the fruit has not 
been turned tO' commercial account. 

THE LOQUAT. 

The loquat (Eriohotrya Japonica) is widely grown in Cali- 
fornia as an ornamental plant, and a small amount of fruit is 
profitably marketed each year. Recently a very marked im- 
provement in loquats has been achieved by painstaking effort 
by Mr. C. P. Taft, of Orange. Mr. Taft's work has demon- 



384 ^ The Persimmon. 

strated that this fruit is susceptible of improvement in size, 
flavor, appearance, in bearing habit of the tree, and in direction 
of early and late varieties, and in all these directions not only 
in the line of better fruit, but fruit which commands m the mar- 
ket several times the value of the common types. The season 
for the loquat is from March to June, the bulk of the crop com- 
ing in April and the first half of May. The Advance Loquat is 
the best of the new varieties. It is very prolific. The fruit is 
often as much as three inches in length, and from one inch to 
one and one-half inches in diameter; it being of a peculiar pear 
shape. The clusters frequently contain twenty specimens. Its 
color is a bright orange yellow when fully ripe, and it should 
never be picked until it is so. The flavor is distinct and very 
sweet. Many compare it to the cherry. If not bruised when 
handled it will keep easily two weeks, growing sweeter by the 
process, and will eventually shrivel up without decay, thus 
proving itself capable of being shipped long distances. Mr. 
Taft has named the following varieties : — 

The Advance — Fruit yellow, pear-shaped, from two to three inches 
in length, clusters very large, very sweet when fully ripe. 

The Premier. — Fruit salmon-colored, oval, large, but not as large 
as the Advance, sweet, but peculiar flavor. 

The Victor. — Largest, color pink to red, probably the best for 
canning. 

THE PERSIMMON. 

The persimmon of the southern States (Diospyros Vir~ 
giniana) was introduced into California in early days some time 
ago, as there are trees thirty to forty feet high growing on 
Rancho Chico. The widely-distributed species, however, is the 
Japanese (Diospyros Kaki), of which many varieties are now 
fruiting in different parts of the .State. The tree is quite hardy, 
and fruits freely both along the coast region and in the interior. 
It easily takes the form of a low standard, and with its large, 
glossy leaves during the summer, and its immense, high-colored 
fruit clinging to the twigs after the leaves have fallen, it is a 
striking object in the orchard or in the house garden. 

Persimmons grow readily from seed, but in most cases the 
improved varieties must be reproduced by grafting on seedlings 
either of the Japanese or American species. The tree seems to 
thrive in any fair fruit soil, taking very kindly to close soils if 
well cultivated. The amounts of fruit now reaching our mar- 
kets are increasing and a demand is found for certain amounts 
at fair prices, but there is no object now apparent for large in- 
crease of production. This fruit, so highly esteemed in the 
Orient and so highly praised by travelers, has not become as 
popular as expected on this coast, nor have the great markets 



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The Pineapple. 385 

at the East required more than a car-load or two a year so far. 
Those who wish persimmons at all seem to prefer the smaller 
but more piquant Virginia species. 

THE PINEAPPLE. 

Casual experiments with the pineapple in the open air in 
this State have been made for a number of years, the fruit be- 
ing occasionally produced. Most has been accomplished by 
Mr. j. B. Rapp, of Colegrove, Los Angeles County. Mr. 
Rapp's place is in the Cahuenga Valley, and in that part of the 
valley which is famed as frostless, where even beans and toma- 
toes survive winter temperatures. Mr. Rapp set out his first 
twenty-five plants in 1891, and a number of his neighbors also 
set out groups of plants, but two years finished up all but his. 
In 1893 the first of his plants fruited, but they did not seem to 
take kindly to the situation at first. They grew very slowly and 
the first fruit only weighed half a pound. After setting out his 
own acclimated plants, they have done better each year, and 
the fruit which Mr. Rapp has sold recently has weighed from 
two to four pounds each. If the strongest offsets or suckers are 
planted they bear inside of a year, and Mr. Rapp is endeavoring 
to have his fruit set from May to November, as the fruit setting 
at other times in the year is usually undersized on account of 
the slow growth during the winter and early spring. It seems 
probable that the pineapple resents the dry air of our summer 
as well as the lack of winter heat, and a lath covering and sum- 
mer spraying may be desirable. It is very doubtful whether the 
fruit can be profitably grown in this State on a commercial 
scale. 

The pineapple thrives best on a fine sandy loam, but will 
grow well on many soils if well drained and cultivated. The 
plants can be set three by three or four by five feet, so as to 
allow cultivation both ways while the plants are young. Plants 
are secured from "stickers," which come from the root, from 
"slips," which grow on the stem just below the "apple," and 
from "crowns," or the tufts of leaves at the top of the fruit. 
Suckers are said to bear in one year, and slips and crowns in 
two years. Strong suckers are best for planting, and they 
should be set out early in the spring as soon as the danger of 
cold weather is over. 

THE POMEGRANATE. 

This fruit (Funica granatiim), famed in literature and art, is 
grown in various parts of the State, and certain amounts are 
profitably sold. The shrub or low tree, in good soil, will 
reach the height of twenty feet. It is a hardy plant, easy of 
propagation from seed or cutting. The beauty of the tree, not 



386 Vario7is Shrubs and Trees. 

taking the fruit into account, has caused it to be planted in 
many gardens. Exposed to the raw sea winds it does not 
bloom well nor set with fruit, and is best adapted to the warmer 
regions of the interior, where it is an early and abundant bearer. 
The variety chiefly cultivated is a bright orange color, but there 
is found a large variety ot them, varying from almost pure white 
with a faint blush, to dark red. A very striking variety, with 
deep red pulp, is grown by Mr. J. T. Bearss, of Porterville. The 
fruit ripens in the warmer parts of the State, north and south, 
in October. 

THE STRAWBERRY TREE. 

The Spanish madrono (Arbutus iinedo) is now quite widely 
grown, chiefly as an ornamental shrub or tree. Plants have 
been distributed from the propagating grounds of the State 
University at Berkeley, where the tree has been in bearing for 
the last ten years. Two large trees m the garden of J. L. 
Moslier, at San Jose, are perhaps the oldest in the State. The 
growth is exceedingly beautiful if kept free from scale insects, 
the fruit ranging as it ripens through shades of yellow, orange, 
and deep red. and contrasting beautifully with the glossy ever- 
green foliage. The fruit is of pleasant flavor. 

MELON SHRUB. 

This plant (Solanum Guafamalciisc) is a small, half-herba- 
ceous shrub from the table-land of Guatemala. The fruit is yel- 
low, splashed with violet, somewhat of the shape of the egg- 
plant, but is usually seedless, and is readily propagated from 
cuttings. Plants grown at Berkeley have not succeeded well. 
There are thriving plants in many protected places in the State, 
and some fruit reaches the market, but few seem to like the 
flavor, which is something like a tomato and melon mixed. 

THE MELON TREE. 

The melon pawpaw (Carica papaya) has been widely intro- 
duced experimentally in this State, and many situations are 
found unfitted for its growth, but satisfactory fruiting has been 
secured at several places in southern California, especially if 
protected the first year it will stand light frosts afterwards. 
With Mr. Cammack, at Whittier, Los Angeles County, it ripens 
fruit the third year from the seed — the fruit being pleasant to 
eat as one would a mnskmelon. The large fig-like leaves and 
the peculiar markings of the trunk make the tree a very strik- 
ing object, 

THE PRICKLY PEAR. 

The tuna, or fruit of the cactus (Opuntia vulgaris), is pro- 
duced in nearly all parts of the State except on the mountains. 



The Alligator Pear. 387 

It was one of the old mission fruits, and was enjoyed by the 
early mining population until better fruits were available. It is 
about as large as a medium-sized pear, and has a pleasant acid 
flavor if one succeeds in escaping the prickles in getting at the 
interior of the fruit. The tuna is still a commercial article in a 
small way. Plants are grown readily from cuttings of the fleshy 
leaves. 

THE ALLIGATOR PEAR. 

The avocado, or AguO' coie of the Mexicans (Persea gratis- 
sima) has proved hardy in several districts in the State, north 
and south. It is hardy in Berkeley, but has not yet fruited. It 
is not likely that it will be satisfactory without high summer 
heat and freedom from heavy frosts. It is, however, one of the 
most promising of its class of fruits, as it is known to epicures, 
and its marketing at a high price reasonably assured. Mr. 
J. C. Harvey, of Los Angeles, gives this interesting account 
of it:— 

It is a handsome evergreen tree, and, in the typical form, bears 
elliptical leaves from two and one-half to three inches in width, narrow 
toward the base, and about six inches long. In some varieties the 
new growth is of a reddish brown, ultimately becoming deep green. 
The fruits are pear-shaped, about the size of a Bartlett pear, and contain 
a single, rather large seed. When ripe, the skin, which is much thinner 
than that of an orange, parts easily from the pulp, which is of a mod- 
erately firm though buttery consistency, and forms, with lime juice or 
pepper and salt, one of the most delicious salads known to epicures. 
Indeed, the fruit is a perfect mayonnaise in itself. Few persons fail to 
like it, even at first, and in countries where it is common, it is esteemed 
above all other vegetable productions, both by natives and foreigners 
alike. The pulp is quite rich in a bland and most agreeable oil, said to 
be very nutritious. The tree attains a height of from twenty-five to 
thirty-five feet, and forms a handsome object when liberally cultivated. 
The tree is a gross feeder. Good-sized trees carry a large crop, which, 
after attaining a certain size, can be picked at intervals of a week or two 
•extending over a period of two or three months, the fruits in each 
instance ripening in a week or ten days after gathering; and a very 
remarkable fact is that the quality or flavor of the last picking seems 
just the same as the first. 

THE WHITE SAPOTA. 

There arc two old trees in Santa Barbara, one believed to 
have survived from the mission planting in the early part of the 
century, the other half as old, which have been held to be the 
white sapota (Casimiroa edulis). Dr. Franceschi has pointed 
out the probability that the Santa Barbara trees are something 
else or else a very inferior variety. Mr, Harvey, of Los Angeles, 
describes the true sapota as growing with him from seed from 
Vera Cruz. 



388 Other Scmitropical Fruits. 

This tree endures slight frosts unharmed. It is indigenous in north- 
west Mexico and is remarkable among the Aurantiacea, producing green 
colored flowers, and superficially bears little resemblance to an other- 
wise well-marked order of plants. The fruits are the size of apples, and 
are esteemed in that portion of Mexico where it is common; according 
to some botanical authorities it is not considered altogether wholesome, 
possessing narcotic properties. The pulp is described as possessing a 
delicious, melting, peach-like taste. 

THE trb:e tomato. 

This plant (Cyphomandra bcfacea) was brought to general 
notice by Mr. Cammack. of Whittier. It is a native of Central 
America and is of shrubby habit, growing fuve or six feet high, 
with large, shining leaves, often a foot long. The flowers are 
fragrant, of a pale f^esh color, with yellow stamens, and are fol- 
lowed by fruit the shape and size of a duck's egg, at first of a 
purple tint, but gradually assuming a warm, reddish color as 11 
ripens. When ripe the fruit may be used raw as a tomato is. 
If the skin is removed and the fruit stewed with sugar, it has 
a slight sub-acid flavor which is very refreshing. It makes a 
fine jelly. The plants bear the second year from the seed and 
the fruit ripens continuously for several months. The seeds 
should be started just as are those of the common tomato, and 
the plants set out eight or ten feet apart. 

THE KAI APPLE. 

The name is applied to the fruit of Aberia Caifra, a native 
of Natal and KafTraria, a tall shrub, yielding an edible fruit of a 
golden yellow color, about an inch in diameter. It is com- 
mended as a hedge plant, as it is densely clothed with strong 
dry spines. The leaves are small and of a rich green hue. The 
fruit, which is produced freely in the warmer parts of the State, 
is chiefly used for making preserves. 

OTHER FRUITS. 

The foregoing enumeration does not include all the exotic 
fruits which have found a place on Californian soil. There are 
many more, some of which will probably demonstrate their fit- 
ness to add to the graces or the gains of our horticultural life. 



PART SIXTH: SMALL FRUITS. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
BERRIES AND CURRANTS. 

In suitable soils and situations, and with proper care and 
cultivation, the small fruits sustain the general reputation of 
California by the size and quality of the product, and by the 
long-continued and abundant fruiting of the plants. Probably 
nowhere else in the world do small fruits better repay generous 
treatment than in this State, and probably nowhere dO' they suf- 
fer more from neglect. There are parts of the State, of course, 
where some small fruits, left to their own resources, thrive and 
bear abundantly, but, speaking of the State as a whole, the price 
of success is intelligent devotion on the part of the grower. 

There are localities in California which favor aimost contin- 
uous growth and fruiting of some of the small fruits, and it is no 
fiction to say that in such a place one may have raspberries and 
strawberries upon his table every month of tlie year. Such sit- 
uations are the thermal belts, which are practically frostless, 
and, by securing favoring moisture conditions in the soil and 
proper varieties of the fruits, the existing temperature conditions 
will produce the results indicated. Though this be the case, 
the profitable growth of small fruits is not, of course, restricted 
to such situations, but the largest commercial enterprises are 
carried on in places where the summer-crop rule prevails, but 
the bearing season is much longer than in the eastern States. 

Small fruits for family use may be grown on all fertile soils, 
and therefore they should be produced on every farm. Grow- 
ing for market on a large scale involves considerations of suit- 
ability of soil and climate, ease of cultivation, water supply, and 
facilities for transportation, which will probably occur to any 
one who gives the matter the thought and personal observation 
of existing small fruit farms, which such an important com- 
mercial venture should com.mand. 

Preparation of soil for small fruits should be most thorough 
and careful. Even more generous work than that commended 
in Chapter X for trees and vines should be done. It is the more 

( 389 ) 



39© The Blackberry. 

necessary to work deeply because subsequent culture of small 
fruits must be shallow. 

THE BLACKBERRY. 

The blackberry is a great favorite in California markets. 
It thrives in all parts of the State, and the plant is best suited 
of all small fruits tO' yield generously without irrigation, though 
it relishes sufficient moisture and repays it with fruit. There 
is great difiference in practise as to supplying water artificially. 
The growth of cane, and the size and appearance of the fruit, 
will show the observing grower what should be the practise in 
his situation, and the general suggestions as tO' irrigation in 
Chapter XV are applicable. There are -regions in which 
blackberries are irrigated weekly throughout the summer, and 
others in which the berries are gathered from June tO' Novem- 
ber without irrigation. Of course, with such wide local varia- 
tions, there can be no general rule for practise. Let the 
grower simply bear in mind that if he does not get good, 
plump, and glistening fruit and good strong growth of new 
canes at the same time, he should give irrigation. The require- 
ments of the plant during the fruiting season are great, and they 
must be met. 

Propagation. — Blackberry plants are secured by digging up 
the shoots from old' stools, securing therewith a bunch of 
fibrous roots with a portion of the main root. To propagate 
on a large scale dig up the roots entirely, and, cutting them up 
with pruning shears into pieces about two inches long, plant 
them in a well-prepared bed in the garden or nursery. Place 
the root cuttings about two inches apart and cover about three 
inches deep with well-pulverized soil, the depth being regulated 
of course, according to the nature of the soil, deeper in light 
than heavy soils. A light mulch will assist in retaining mois- 
ture. The time for this work is at the dormant period of the 
plant. One summer's growth gives good plants for setting out. 

Planting out Blackberries. — Blackberries should be planted 
in rows far enough apart to admit of the use of the horse and 
cultivator. As the constant tendency of the plant is to extend 
itself in the growth of new canes, the rows should not be less 
than six to eight feet apart, and the plants about three feet 
apart in the row. The plants soon occupy the full space in the 
row, and cultivation is only possible between the rows. Some 
growers plant blackberries as they do grape-vines, seven or eight 
feet apart both ways, and then cultivate with the horse both 
ways. Planting in' rows is better. The number of plants to 
fill an acre at dififerent distances can be calculated as described 
in Chapter XXIV for grape-vines. 



I 



Planting Blackberries. 391 

D. Edson Smith, of Orange County, who has much expe- 
rience with small fruits, describes his method of laying out and 
planting on a large scale, with a view to irrigation, as follows: — 

Plow deeply and harrow thoroughly several times before setting out. 
Lastly, open a trench with your plow where the row is to be, twenty 
inches deep; go along with a basket of plants, a four-foot lath and a 
shovel, and set a plant in this trench every four feet and fill the dirt 
around it with the shovel. If the trench is too deep in places for the 
length of the plant root, fill in a little dirt; if not quite deep enough in 
places, scoop out a shovelful. Aim, in preparing the ground with plow 
and smoother, to leave it dishing each way toward the row of young 
plants, so that irrigating water turned in at the upper end will run 
along the row of plants as in a trough. Aim to have the ground around 
the set plants a few inches below the general level of the land. After 
the plants are all set in a row, go along with a rake if there are but a 
few plants, or with a horse-hoe if there are many, and fill in the trench 
between the plants. It is a pleasure to set out plants in this way, and 
such deep, rich, well-stirred soil delights the plant roots, so that they 
grow rapidly in every direction, and the plants throw up their heads in 
a manner entirely satisfactory' to all concerned. If the ground is dry, or 
there is no rain soon after setting out the plants, irrigating water should 
be turned down the row, or at least a quart or two of water poured 
around each plant; then, before the soil hardens, stir it well with culti- 
vator and hoe. All future care resolves itself into frequent waterings 
and frequent stirrings of the soil. Allow no weeds to appear, and keep 
three inches of surface soil well loosened with the horse and hoes. 
These small fruits require frequent waterings, especially when forming 
fruit and during the fruiting season. 

Cultivation.- — Thorough cultivation of the surface soil is 
essential for retention of moisture. After the plants attain size, 
cultivation should be secured with as shallow-cutting tools as 
possible so as to prevent injury to the roots, which not only 
weakens the plant, btit increases the growth of suckers between 
the rows. A horse-hoe with a long knife running horizontally, 
or with duck-foot teeth, well sharpened, answers well in keeping 
the ground clear of weeds and suckers, and the surface loose. 

Frequency of cultivation depends upon irrigation, for the 
cultivator must always follow the application of water. The 
benefits of surface cultivation, as described in Chapter XIII, are 
of especial force in this connection. 

The spaces in the row which can not be reached with the 
cultivator must be kept clean from weeds, and free from baking, 
by the use of the hoe. It is advisable that the cultivation be the 
cleanest possible, for moisture exhaustion by weeds can not be 
afforded. 

Pruning and Training. — There is a little difference in the 
way of training blackberries practised in this State. Of course 
this does not include the "let alone" system, which is not fol- 
lowed by any good grower. The difiference lies mainly in the 



392 Care of the Blackberry. 

use or disuse of artificial supports for the canes — the prevailing 
practise being to dispense with them. In either case the prun- 
ing of the canes is similar in kind but different in degree, for if 
no supports are used, the canes are headed lower. 

At planting out, cut back the cane to near the surface of 
the ground and mark the plant with a small stake. At first the 
top growth should not be checked, but when new canes grow 
out strongly they should be pinched at the tip to force out lat- 
eral branches for fruiting the next year. Those who intend to 
tie canes to a stake or trellis let them attain a height of five or 
six feet before pinching off the terminal bud; those who intend 
to teach the cane to stand alone pinch when it is from two to 
four feet high. All agree to pinch off the ends of the lateral 
branches at about twelve inches from the main stem. This 
pinching of blackberry canes may be done by the watchful 
grower of a few plants, with the thumb and finger, but thrifty 
blackberry plants are such rapid cane growers that in large 
plantations cutting back is often done with a sickle or corn 
hook or sharp butcher-knife, several times in the course of the 
summer. It is also advisable to thin out the suckers with the 
hoe while cutting out weeds, leaving only about as many as it is 
desired to have for fruit the next season. After the leaves fall, 
the canes which have borne fruit during the summer are all cut 
off even with the surface of the ground with long-handled prun- 
ing shears or with a short, hooked knife with a long handle, and 
all debris removed from the rows. This method gives stout 
canes, with plenty of short side branches, well supplied with 
buds, which will send out fruiting shoots the following spring. 

If supports are used, the four to six canes which are left to 
each stool are gathered within a loosely-drawn bale rope and 
tied to the stake; or if a trellis is used, the branches are brought 
up to the wire or slat so that the distance is about evenly divided 
between the shoots. 

Though these systematic methods of summer pruning are 
practised and advocated by the most careful growers, it should 
be stated that there are large plantations which are conducted 
upon a more simple system. The pruning consists in cutting 
out old canes in the winter, and the only summer pruning is 
slashing off those canes which interfere with cultivation. The 
canes are sometimes held up by tying bunches of them together 
with ropes. Of course this system costs less than the more 
careful one which has been described, and yields profit enough 
to induce adherence to it. No doubt quite as great weight of 
berries could be had from a smaller area by a better system of 
growing. 

Application of Manure. — The blackberry loves very rich 
ground, and plenty of well-rotted stable manure or compost, as 



Varieties of the Blackberry. 393 

described in Chapter XIV, should be applied. It is a good plan 
to apply in a thick covering all over the ground and between 
the canes as soon as the patch is cleaned up in the fall. The 
early rains carry down the soluble parts of the manure, and later 
in the season the whole is plowed in between the rows, leaving 
a foot or more next the plants to be carefully forked in, as the 
digging fork does not cut the roots like the spade. 

Mulching. — The mulch, to keep the ground moist and to 
obviate summer cultivation, is very satisfactory where it is thor- 
oughly done. Apply coarse manure or partially-rotted straw 
and the like, after the last spring cultivation, and use the hoe to 
keep down weeds and suckers which come up between the rows. 
Some growers use mulch close to the canes, cultivating the re- 
mainder of the ground between the rows. 

Bearing Age and Longevity. — If blackberry plants are well 
treated the first year after planting out, there will be consid- 
erable fruit the following summer. How long the plants will 
bear satisfactorily depends, also, on situation and treatment. 
Sometimes the plants fail early; even with good, generous treat- 
ment in good soil, the old stool becomes weak, the shoots are 
thin, and the fruit small. Some count about eight years as the 
profitable age of the plant, and then cut out the plants and give 
the land a change. Of course berry growers prepare for this by 
frequently making new plantations. 

Varieties of the Blackberry. — Comparatively few kinds are 
largely grovi-n. The Wilson Junior, Lawton, and Kittatinny 
were formerly the prevailing kinds, ripening in the order named. 
The Erie is favored by some as a late variety. The Early Harvest 
has been favorably reported by a number of growers. These 
have, however, been largely superseded by a renamed variety, 
Crandall's Early, which is the earliest of the improved varieties, 
and has a very long fruiting season. The fruit was named after 
Dr. J. R. Crandall, ol Auburn, who first fruited the variety from 
plants given him by a stranger hailing from Texas. It is a 
strong, vigorous, hardy plant, very productive, of firm, hand- 
some berries; resembles Lawton in canes, leaves, and flavor of 
fruit: not given to sprouting from running roots. 

Another variety which has advanced in favor is the Oregon 
Evergreen, introduced from Oregon. Mr. John Rock describes 
it as follov/s: "Origin unknown; beautiful; cut-leaved foliage, 
which it retains during the winter; berries large, black, sweet, 
rich, and delicious. -It continues to ripen from July to Novem- 
ber, which makes it one of the best berries for family use." 

Some efifort has been made to secure improved varieties of 
our native blackberry, and a most striking result has been se- 
cured by Judge J. H. Logan, of Santa Cruz, by crossing the 

25 



394 T^f^^ Deivberry. 

v*/ild berry with Crandall's Early, producing a fruit so large that 
it has been named "Mammoth" by its originator. The canes of 
the Mammoth are very peculiar, being very large and thickly 
covered with small, short spines. The canes start early in 
March, grow thick and stout until about five feet high. They 
then take on a running habit and grow from twenty-five to 
thirty feet in a season. Late in the fall the tips or stolons seek 
the ground and take root. The Manmioth is not an evergreen 
like its Texas parent, although it does not entirely lose its leaves 
in winter. It begins to grow and flower very early in spring 
and ripens its fruit the last of May, some weeks earlier than the 
Lawton. The fruit is more acid than the Lawton, but, when 
perfectly ripe, is sweet and of superior flavor. When cooked or 
canned the tlavor is identical with the wild berry of California. 
The Dewberry. — The improved varieties of the dewberry, 
or trailing blackberry, are now quite widely grown and highly 
praised. Some growers use trellises; others train the vines 
along rows on the ground surface. The following is the method 
of Mr. A. M. Munger, of Fresno, and includes irrigation ar- 
rangements : — 

For planting the Lucretia dewberry, prepare the ground by plow- 
ing deep and cultivating until the dirt is thoroughly pulverized. Set 
the plants about three inches deep and four feet apart, in rows, leaving 
a space of six feet between the rows. Plant between February 15 and 
March 15. Irrigate as often as once a month, always thoroughly cul- 
tivating after each irrigation. By so doing a sufScient growth is secured 
to produce a good crop the second year. Immediately after the first 
rainfall, generally in October, the vines should be pruned by cutting 
back within about sixteen inches of the base of the vine. 

In February of the second year plow between the rows with a small 
one-horse plow, turning the furrows towards the vines, but using a 
shield so as not to cover them. Follow immediately with a hoe, draw- 
ing the dirt up under the vines and forming a ridge. This ridge should 
be high enough to keep the vines up out of the water when irrigating. 
After this ridge is formed, water should be run cjuite often, as the dew- 
berry requires a great deal of water to mature properly. The vines 
should be irrigated as often as three times at least during the spring. 
The fruit begins to ripen in Fresno about May 25, and continues about 
one month. The dewberry roots readily from the tips without cover- 
ing if the soil is loose and moist. If many plants are desired it is 
advisable to cover slightly, and the tips will root as soon as the soil is 
moistened by the fall rains. 

THE CRANBERRY. 

Though attention has been given to experiments with the 
growth of the cranberry in California for many years, it has not 
been demonstrated that the culture is successful or profitable. 
Cranberries have been produced, and the fruit shown at fairs, 
but beyond this nothing has yet been accomplished. It would 



The Currant. 395 

seem to be a fair conclusion that even in the most moist regions 
onr summer air is too dry to suit the plant. 

THE CURRANT. 

The currant reaches perfection in size and quality in parts 
of California adapted to its growth, but its area is comparatively 
small. The plant does not thrive in the dry, heated air of the 
interior either at the north or south. It does well near the 
coast, especially in the upper half of the State, and is grown 
for market chiefly, on lands adjacent to and on the east side of 
the bay of San Francisco'. The comparatively cool and moist 
air of the ocean favors it, but even here the sunburn, which is 
the bane of its existence in the interior valleys, occasionally in- 
jures the fruit. Away from the coast, currants are grown to a 
limited extent along the Sacramento^ and San Joaquin Rivers, 
near their confluence, but not in the hot valleys whence they 
flow. On the foot-hills, too, where the plant has a northerly 
slope, or other cooling influence, and sufficiently moist soil, it 
will do moderately well. It is quite possible that the currant 
may be satisfactorily grown for home use, or for local market 
in parts of the State where at present one does not find it, pro- 
viding the moderating efifect of elevation and northerly ex- 
posure, coupled with the shade of trees, be secured, but even 
then the hot north wind of the early summer may often injure 
the fruit. So far as the metropolitan market is concerned, it 
does not matter that the currant area is limited, for existing 
plantations produce all, and sometimes mere, than can be 
profitably disposed of at present. 

Propagation. — The currant is readily grown from cuttings. 
As soon as the bush drops its leaves, and the ground is in coi:- 
dition, as to moisture, secure the cuttings a foot in length from 
straight wood of the last growth, and place them in nursery or 
in permanent place, in good sandy or garden loam, spaded and 
broken vip to a depth of eighteen inches. Set the cutting firmly 
in the earth, six or seven inches deep. If they are to be trained 
as small trees, every bud below where the lowest limb is to start 
should be cut out — even to the end of the cutting underground 
— otherwise they will be continually throwing up suckers. If 
they are to grow as bushes, the natural and more productive 
form of the currant, set them as they are taken from the parent 
bush. 

Planting and Care. — Currants are usually grown in rows 
about five or six feet apart, the plants standing two^ and a half 
or three feet apart in the rows. Most of the currant plantations 
are between orchard rows, the partial shade of the trees being 
considered desirable. It is claimed that currants do best when 



396 The Gooseberry. 

interplanted with cherry, apricot, apple, and pear, not so well 
when associated with plum and peach, and the almond is least 
desirable. The cultivation is such as is usually given to the 
orchard, except that in heavy soil the plow is not allowed to 
come near the cuttings the first season for fear of tearing them 
from their rooting. After the first year the plow is used in the 
winter and the cultivator in summer. 

Currants well repay generous applications of well-rotted 
manure, and relish sufficient moisture in the soil. Where this 
can not be had from rainfall, and retained by cultivation and 
mulching, irrigation must be resorted to. 

Pruning. — If the currant is to be grown in tree form, the 
branches from the upper buds of the cutting should be shortened 
in at the end of the first summer, and branches growing hori- 
zontally should be removed. The weaker shoots in the head 
are thinned out, but not so much as to leave the top too* open. 
If the plant is to grow as a bush, the onlv winter pruning will 
consist in removing dead wood, and thinning the new shoots as 
may seem desirable. Summer pinching of the new growth is 
desirable, as it causes the fruit to set closely and tends to a thick 
growth of foliage also, and this is necessary, for the bark is lia- 
ble to sunburn, and the best fruit is that which is well sheltered 
by the leaves. Another advantage of the bush form is the less 
likelihood of killing by borers, which is imminent when the 
growth depends upon a single stem. 

Bearing. — The currant bears a quantity of excellent fruit 
the second year from the cutting, and reaches its fullest product 
about the fifth to the eighth year, when the yield in the Hay- 
wards region is said to range from one and a half to three tons 
to the acre. 

Varieties. — The Cherry currant is the prevailing variety, 
although the old sorts, the Red and White Dutch, the Red and 
White Grape, etc., are grown in some localities, and Fay's Pro; 
lific is approved by some growers. 

Black currants are but little grown, the market demand 
for them being very light. 

THE GOOSEBERRY. 

The gooseberry is another fruit with somewhat circum- 
scribed area in this State. In localities which favor it, the fruit 
is often found very profitable, but the demand does not warrant 
any great increase of product. Though the gooseberry thrives 
in some situations which do not suit the currant, they may both 
be described as averse to the hot and dry parts of the State. 
Still, for home use or local sale one can grow certain varieties of 
gooseberries successfully, by protecting them from too great 
exposure to the sun. and by keeping the soil sufificiently rich 



Groiving the Gooseberry. 397 

and moist. The choice of varieties is of the greatest importance, 
as win be mentioned presently. At present the chief supplies 
of the gooseberry, as of the currant, are produced in the coun- 
try adjacent to San Francisco Bay, though thriving and profit- 
able plantations are found elsewhere near the coast, here and 
there in the interior, and at considerable elevations on the slope 
of the Sierra Nevada. 

Propagation, Pruning, etc. — The gooseberry is grown from 
cuttings, very much as already described for the currant. The 
common and the best method is to start the cuttings early in 
the winter, though some have succeeded with cuttings taken 
in the spring just as the new growth is starting out. Disbud- 
ding the lower part of the cutting if it is desired to train in tree 
form is also practised with the gooseberry, but a smaller per- 
centage of cuttings is found to grow after disbudding. 

Gooseberries are planted out and cultivated as already de- 
scribed for currants, and the requirements of the plant in soil, 
moisture, and manuring are much the same. 

If the gooseberry is to be grown in tree form, constant 
attention to removal of suckers is necessary; if in bush form, 
it will only be necessary to remove too old wood and tO' thin out 
the new shoots. Suckers should be removed clean from the 
stem, so as to eradicate the latent buds, and pulling ofif with a 
gloved hand, when the suckers become woody enough to with- 
stand breaking, is advised. As with the currant, the borer is 
a constant menace to the life of a gooseberry plant confined to 
a single stem. 

Diseases and Pests. — The gooseberry is subject to insect 
depredation both in wood and fruit and leaf. The prevailing 
trouble, however, and that which causes the failure of so many 
foreign kinds, is the mildew. To escape this nothing is done 
except to select varieties not subject to the disease. 

Varieties of the Gooseberry. — The American varieties. Down- 
ing and Houghton's Seedling, chiefly the latter, constituted for 
a long time the main varieties marketed in San PYancisco. 
Early experiments with collections of English varieties showed 
that most of them were failures because of mildew; still a few of 
the green and white sorts, notably the Whitesmith, have suc- 
ceeded. The proportion of large berries now being marketed 
is much greater than formerly, and the superior price warrants 
especial effort to produce them. 

A large English variety, which was brought to California 
many years ago by the late John W. Dwinelle, is now the 
most widely distributed large kind. Its true name was lost and 
it has been propagated under various names, viz., Dwinelle, 
Kelsey, New French; but the name Berkeley, adopted by W. P. 



398 The M2dberry. 

Hammon, in his wide distribution of it in 1884, now prevails. 
It is large and handsome, very prolific, ripens early, and is 
Lisuall}' free from mildew. 

The Champion, an Oregon seedling grown by Seth Lewell- 
ing, is medium sized, verv smooth, and thick fleshed, the seeds 
being few and small. They are entirely free from mildew, and 
are clean, bright, and beautiful. 

THE MULBERRY. 

Nearly all varieties of the mulberry have been introduced 
in California and grown rapidly and thriftily. Most attention 
has been paid to those varieties most sviitable for feeding silk- 
worms, but the fruiting varieties are also grown here, though the 
fruit has assumed no commercial importance. The mulberry 
is grown readily from cuttings. The fruiting varieties thus far 
chiefly distributed are the Downing Everbearing, the Persian, 
the New American, the Russian, and the Black Mulberry of 
Spain. All these bear large and desirable fruit. The last 
named, introduced by Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, is grown 
Cjuite widely. The mulberry has a long season; the Persian 
ripens in Tulare the last of May and continuously thereafter 
until October. 

THE RASPBERRY. 

The raspberry is another of the great small fruits of Cali- 
fornia. It thrives over a great area of the State; in fact, there 
are few situations in which it can not be grown, if proper atten- 
tion is given to retention of moisture in the surface soil, and to 
giving the plants partial shade in the heated valleys, and the 
cooler exposures in tlie foot-lulls. The raspberry, skilfully 
pruned and generously fed and cared for, is alniost a constant 
bearer, as has already been intimated. It is a continual delight 
in the home garden, and always brings a high average rate in 
local and metropolitan markets. 

The culture of the raspberry is in the main like that of the 
blackberry, as already described. l"he red varieties, which are 
the kinds almost exclusively grown in this .State, are propagated 
by suckers and root cuttings like the blackberry, but the "black 
caps" are propagated by layering the cane tips during the grow- 
ing season. Bending down a cane with its branches and cover- 
ing lightly with soil and with a light mulch to retain moisture, 
will result in free rooting of the buried parts, and one can some- 
times secure a dozen plants by the layering of a single cane with 
its laterals. 

The pruning of the raspberry is also by the renewal system, 
as advised for the blackberry. The topping off of new canes, 



I 



The Raspber}y. 399 

when Lhey reach about three feet in height, the subsequent 
pinching of laterals which are thus forced out, the resolute thin- 
ning out of sprouts so that but three or four strong canes are 
allowed from one root, the faithful repression of all weeds, tiie 
maintenance of a loose surface layer of the soil by very shallow 
cultivation, the free application of manure and of water unless 
a continually moist condition near the surface can be secured by 
cultivation and mulching, — all these are among the essentials of 
cultivation which will secure abundant fruit and a long bearing 
season. However, as has already been stated with regard to 
blackberries, there are large plantations which pursue a less 
careful system of cultivation. 

Continuous bearing of the raspberry may be secured in 
those varieties which endure the treatment, by cutting out a 
cane as soon as its fruit is gathered, the force of the plant being 
then devoted to the fruiting of a second cane, which has previ- 
ously been pinched, and a third shoot is pinched and allowed to 
mature its wood to carry over and bear the first crop of the fol- 
lowing year. A succession of sprouts is gained by pinching 
ofT the tips of some as soon as they have grown up a few inches, 
which results in the growth of later shoots lower on the stems. 
In this way a succession of fruit is obtained. 

The Cuthbert and other strong-growing varieties, after the 
pinching at about three feet from the ground, will send out lat- 
erals which will bear late in the fall, and the same cane will bear 
a crop early in the following spring, when its career is ended 
and it should be removed. 

Raspberries are planted about three feet apart in the rows, 
and the rows about six feet apart. They can be well grown 
nearer together than is required for blackberries. 

Varieties of the Raspberry. — The old varieties have been 
largely replaced by the Cuthbert, which is the universally pop- 
ular and most largely-planted sort, having been found trust- 
worthy as a grower and as a free and constant bearer. The 
good points of the Cuthbert, as representing the experience of 
many California growers, include the follov^^ing: A profuse 
grower, with healthy and rich foliage, which protects fruit from 
sunburn; an excellent bearer with the fruit well distributed 
through the bush; the fruit conies oiit easily, and does not crum- 
ble, is of fine flavor, and ships well. The Turner, Herstine, 
and New Rochelle varieties are grown to a limited extent; and 
the Barter, a re-named variety, the identity of which is un- 
known, has always retained a degree of popularity in the foot- 
hill region of Placer County, where it first appeared. 

The Black Cap varieties thrive fairly in most parts of the 
State, but do not sell well in the markets, and are onlv grown 



400 The Loganberry. 

for home use. The golden or yellow raspberries are also out of 
favcr because they are shy bearers and cut no figure in the Cal- 
ifornia product. 

Blackberry-Raspberry Hybrids. — TwO' crosses of California 
origin have been widely distributed and have demonstrated great 
value. 

The Loganberry was originated by Judge J. H. Logan, of 
Santa Cruz, and is a cross between the California wild black- 
berry and a red raspberry, thought to be the Red Antwerp. It 
was a chance-hybrid developed by growing plants from the 
seed of the wild' blackberry in i88i. The plant was multiplied 
by its originator and fruited for more than ten years, plants being 
meantime given to Mr, James Waters, of \¥atsonville, who grew 
it on a commercial scale and was gratified at the results of his 
marketing of the fruit. The variety was first given to the public 
through the University of California in 1893 and has since then 
been propagated by nurserymen and sold in large quantities. It 
has proved a most valuable fruit in all parts of California, and has 
commanded the attention of pomologists and growers all over 
the world'. The Loganberry is an exceedingly robust grower, 
and has unique foliage and cane growth as well as fruit. The 
fruit is strikingly large and handsome; sometimes and inch and 
a quarter long, with the shape of a blackberry, and sometimes 
the' hue of a dark red raspberry. Its flavor is unique and pe- 
culiar, and gives to many tastes suggestions of the combination 
of blackberry and raspberry flavors. The culture of the Logan- 
berry is like that of a dewberry — both in growth and propaga- 
tion. 

The Primus is another blackberry-raspberry hybrid, origi- 
nated by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa. It is describd as 
like a raspberry in color and shape, though much larger, many 
specimens attaining a length of an inch and a half by three- 
quarters of an inch in diameter. It has a larger and softer pulp 
core or center than the blackberry, and does not come ofif the 
stem like a cap as a raspberry, but it is a little more tart and is 
best cooked. It ripens early and the plant yields well. It has 
been widely distributed and is popular. It has a trailing habit. 

THE STRAWBERRY. 

"Strawberries all the year round" is the trite expression by 
which the charms of the California climate are characterized. 
It is no fiction, for in the v/onderfully-even climate of regions 
adjacent to the coast and in thermal belts in the interior, the 
strawberry plant blooms and bears almost continuously, pro- 
viding proper moisture conditions are maintained in the soil. 
There are, however, more or less well-defined crops, and "straw- 



b 




Groiving the Straivbcny. 401 

berries all the year" does not mean a uniform supply; nor does 
it mean that everywhere in California can one expect such con- 
stant fruiting. In the very hot interior situations the plant re- 
bels against the atmospheric conditions of midsummer, even 
though the ground be moist; and in frosty places the plant be- 
comes dormant during the wintry portion of the year, ^ The 
conditions of constant growth and bearing are moderation of 
temperature and of atniospheric and soil moisture throughout 
the year. 

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE STRAWBERRY. 

Bearing in mind the conditions described, the strawberry 
can be grown anywhere in California, The native species, as 
mentioned m Chapter V, flourish from the sand of the ocean 
beach to the rich valleys of the Sierra, just below the line of 
perpetual snow, and the deduction is that wherever fertile soil 
and sweet water can be brought together in California, the straw- 
berry will reward the grower. 

Strawberries do well on a variety of soils, but as a rule 
a deep, moist, loamy soil will yield best results. Boggy or 
swampy spots should be avoided unless drainage is provided, 
and in this way most excellent strawberry ground may some- 
times be secured. Land which will produce good potatoes or 
corn will generally yield good results with strawberries, pro- 
vided irrigation is furnished. In many regions the plants will 
hardly survive the summer without irrigation, and everywhere 
a succession of crops during the season depends upon irrigation. 
It is the common experience that light, warm soils yield the 
earliest and highest-flavored berries, and heavy soils the later 
and larger ones; but the size of the berry depends more upon 
the supply of available moisture, and immense fruit can be pro- 
duced on loose, open soils by free irrigation. And yet the 
heavier soil, both because of its usually superior fertility and re- 
tention of moisture, is preferred for the strawberry. The largest- 
producing regions for the San Francisco market in the Santa 
Clara and Pajaro Valleys are comprised- mainly of low-lying, 
heavy valley soils, naturally moist and rich, and furnished with 
abundant water supply for irrigation. And yet in southern Cal- 
ifornia the chief market crops are produced upon light sandy 
loams with water equal to the needs of the plants upon such a 
footing. It must be remembered that the strawberry is a shal- 
low-rooting plant and must have moisture retained near the 
surface. Some loose soils, especially on uplands, are almost out 
of the question for strawberry growing. They are so leachy 
that they will not hold moisture near the surface though one 
should stand with a hose and almost continuously pour it on. 
The plants would also dry up though the water were running 



402 Groiving the Straivberry . 

near by in a ditch. To grow strawberries it is often an advan- 
tage to have a shallow loam soil over a clay or hard-pan, for 
then the tight layer below will prevent the escape of the water 
below the reach of the roots. If this can not be had, the best 
way to grow strawberries on leachy soils for home use is to 
mulch and sprinkle. 

Propagation of the Strawberry. — Seedlings undertaken in the 
hope of originating valuable new varieties are easily grown by 
taking off the outside layer of the choicest berries, which carries 
with it the small, yellow seeds. Wash these from the skin and 
cover them slightly in a sandy soil partially shaded and kept 
moist by sprinkling, or a light mulch, and the plants are readily 
grown. As with seedlings of other fruits, few, if any, will be 
found superior to the parent variety. 

Plants for setting out are secured bv taking off the small 
growths rooted from runners. The strongest plants are those 
nearest to the parent plant. When these are allowed to root in 
small pots plunged into the soil, they are called "pot-grown," 
and are superior for planting out, but they are not largely used 
in this State. When plants of anv variety are desired for new 
beds or fields, a row or more are allowed to send out runners 
during the summer, and the?e are fit for taking up and replant- 
ing the'following winter or spring. 

Laying off Ground for Strawberries. — The essentials are 
deep and thorough pulverization of the soil and grading of the 
surface so that water will flow slowly in the ditches. Sugges- 
tions as to location of grade lines may be found in Chapter XV. 
The inclination which answers for water distribution may be 
very slight; about two inches to the lumdred feet answers on the 
level lands of the Pajaro Valley, v/hile in the foot-hills much 
greater fall is made use of, and on hillsides rows are located 
on contour lines and not in straight lines. A grade of three and 
three-quarters inches to the hundred feet is sometimes used. 
The triangle described in Chapter XV can be used to fix the 
grades. 

Of course, in grading the field it is often necessary to give 
adjacent blocks opposite inclinations to provide for the return of 
the water. On hillsides, where the water is carried down a 
ridge to a tlume, it is usual to keep the water always running 
away from the flume, and only enough is taken out tO' reach to 
Ihe ends of the small ditches. A grade of six inches to the rod 
is practicable for hillside irrigation, but of course only a small 
flow of water is employed. 

There are various ways of laying out strawberry beds and 
plantations. Some give flat cultivation and lay out in single 
rows two and a half to three and a half feet apart, and in some 



Laying Out the Strazvberry. 403 

districts flat culture is unquestionably best. Others lay oitt in 
double rows about two feet apart, and between each pair of 
rows the soil from the center is drawn up to each side, making 
a low ridge or level a little higher than the surface on which 
the plants are set. This levee serves as a walk between the beds 
and holds back the water upon the bed when irrigated by 
flooding. Another, and the generally-adopted plan, is to have 
the plants in double rows on a slight ridge, while between the 
beds is a furrow which serves as a walk and for irrigation. This 
is accomplished by throwing up the soil with the plow into 
ridges about two feet wide, with a double furrow between. On 
the sides of these ridges the plants are set, and often on the top 
of the ridge between the rows of strawberries a single row 
of onions or lettuce, or some other vegetable, is grown the first 
year. In irrigation the water is drawn up from the trenches by 
the roots and by capillary attraction, and the upper surface does 
not bake as it would by flooding if the soil be heavy. In hoe- 
ing out weeds and in fruit gathering, the workman walks in the 
ditch and does not pack the soil aroim'd the plant by tramping. 
This is the best method of laying out for large plantations. 
The rows are a uniform distance apart across the field, whether 
the space between be a ridge or a ditch. The method of ma'c- 
ing the beds a little lower than the general surface of the ground, 
answers best on free, open soils with perfect drainage. Cultiva- 
tion can be reduced by covering the depressed surface of the 
bed with a mulch of fine, clean litter, such as chafif, cut straw, 
etc. This retains moisture and gives the berry a clean surface 
to rest on. Such a bed is an excellent arrangement for the 
home garden. 

In all arrangements the plants are set at less distances in 
the rows than the rows are from each other. Probably the pre- 
vailing distance is one foot between the plants; the range is from 
eight to eighteen inches in the practise of different growers, 
and determined, of course, largely by the habit of the variety. A 
vine like the Sharpless, with a spreading growth and long fruit 
stems, needs, perhaps, the sixteen inches which some growers 
give it, while the smaller, more compact, I.ongworth Prolific 
may do well with half that distance. 

Planting Strawberries. — Strawberry plants are set out either 
in spring or fall, or at any time in the winter when the ground 
is warm and in good condition. In the di-ier parts of the State, 
early fall or winter planting is more essential than elsewhere. 
If the ground is dry, water should always be used in planting. 
This may be given bv thorough irrigation of the ground before 
planting, or a little water may be used in setting each plant. 
At planting it is usually best to remove all leaves from the plant, 



404 Pla7iting the Strmvberry. 

shorten the roots to three inches or less, and be sure the plants 
do not dry while planting progresses. As with handling rooted 
grape-vines, it is advisable to carry aroimd the plants in a vessel 
which has water in it. If plants have been received by mail, 
they are invigorated by soaking in water a few hours before 
planting. 

In setting the plants, scoop out a little excavation with the 
hand or a trowel, spread the roots well, cover with fine soil, being 
sure that the crown of tlie plant shall not be below the surface 
when the soil is leveled. Too many strawberry plants are 
hurled, not planted. Some plant very rapidly by using a dibble 
to make a hole, into which the roots are dropped and soil pressed 
around them by using the dibble alongside; others set the plants 
on the side of the furrow, trusting to the next furrow to com- 
plete the covering. Nearly all ways succeed if the plant is not 
set too deeply and the groimd is moist at planting and not 
allowed to dry out afterwards — providing good, strong plants 
are used. In buying plants it is often poor economy to buy the 
cheapest. 

Staminatc and Pistillate. — In associating varieties be sure 
that pistillate varieties are not set by themselves. Some scrts 
have perfect flowers and are self-fertilizing; others have only the 
pistillate element in the bloom and must have the staminate 
adjacent in another variety. All the varieties largely grown in 
California have perfect flowers, though some pistillate sorts have 
been locally approved. 

Care of the Straivberry Plantation. — Herein lies the secret of 
success with the strawberry. Neglect has led to disappointment 
and condemnation of the strawberry, where intelligent care would 
have rendered it a constant delight. The chief elements of 
proper care may be thus enumerated: — 

Retention of moisture very near the surface by careful, 
shallow cultivation or by mulching, persistent destruction of 
weeds, and compensation for summer evaporation by frequent 
irrigation. The plants during the bearing season should never 
be allowed to show any leaf-shriveling from drouth. Frequency 
of irrigation depends upon local conditions. Irrigation at inter- 
vals of four to ten days, according to the soil, are the outlines of 
prevailing practise. 

Constant removal of runners from all plants except those 
it is desired to multiply to furnish new plants or to fill the rows. 
Pinching of runners should always accompany picking or hoe- 
ing of weeds, and on the garden bed there can be no excuse for 
neglect in this respect. The young plants should be faithfully 
freed from runners to strengthen them up for bearing. 

Though, as already stated, strawberries may in some loca- 
tions be had all winter, it is better practise, as a general rule, to 



Care of the Stran'bcrry. 405 

lay the plants away for a rest. The market season in the regions 
supplying- the San Francisco market extends from April to 
December, and fruit is continuously shipped during that pe- 
riod. At the approach of winter in the last-named month, it 
is usual to go over the beds with a sickle, cutting off the old crop 
of leaves close to the root crown, carefully cleaning up the plan- 
tation for the heavy rains. In most cases it will be a great 
advantage then to cover over all with a light coat of good ma- 
nure, which the winter rains will leach down into the soils. The 
result of the fall clipping and enriching will be an early and 
strong start of the plant in the spring, and a most abundant 
fruitage. 

Duration of the Plantation. — Strawberry plants w^ell cared for 
and not visited by insect pests, have a long, productive, and 
profitable life in California. Tweive-year-old plants at Santa 
Clara have been reported as still producing abundantly. It is 
customary to count from five to eight years as the profitable life 
of a plant, though some growers replant after two bearing years. 

Varieties of the Strazvberry — Though all new varieties are 
tried by California growers, and quite a number may be consid- 
ered successful either for market or for home use, only a very 
few may be said to be widely grown. The three kinds which 
are pre-eminent in public favor are the Longworth Prolific, the 
Sharpless, and the Monarch of the West. The Sharpless is the 
most widely grown; the Monarch shows better size and color in 
southern California and on the Sierra foot-hills than in the re- 
gions adjacent to San Francisco, although it is grown therein 
to some extent. The Longworth is an old favorite, early, pro- 
ductive, and hardy, and its style ha.s become very popular in the 
markets. Wilson's Albany also holds favor in same. The Me- 
linda is largely grown in the Pajaro Valley. The Gandy and 
Dollar are approved in several counties. 

The best drouth-resisting strawberry grown in California at 
the present time is the Arizona Everbearing. It is a leading 
variety in southern California, and is very hardy, enduring much 
drouth and neglect, which the home strawberry bed is apt tO' get 
when the fruit grower is very busy in his orchard. It is a late 
berry and bears all summer if well treated. Et is handsome in 
form and color. The Australian Crimson, Erandywine, Lady 
Thompson and Laxton's Noble are also popular at the south, 
and a variety called Shepherd's is preferred at Santa Barbara. 

It has been demonstrated that varieties show marked dif- 
ference in behavior in different soils and situations. In planting 
for market or home use in new regions the planter will be safe 
in making his largest plantations of the varieties named above, 
and at the same time he should put out experimental plots of 
other varieties. In planting in established strawberry regions, 
secure the best available local advice, consulting a number of 
growler? and forming decision from such evidence. 



PART SEVENTH: NUTS. 



CHAPTE^R XXXIV. 

NUT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 

Two nuts have risen to large commercial importance in 
California: the English walnut and the almond. Other nuts 
than these, except peanuts, have never attained great acreage, 
although several have succeeded and promise to become popular. 

The walnut has thus far only been produced in large quan- 
tities in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange 
Counties, and an aggregate annual product of eiglit and a 
quarter million pounds has been attained in this district. The 
almond product, which in some years amounts to five hundred 
thousand pounds, has been chiefly grown in central California. 

THE ALMOND. 

The almond has an interesting history in California, but it 
can be outlined in a few sentences. The importation of the 
best European varieties began verv earlv. and a number of them 
had been planted in 1853. They proved irregular bearers, 
though the trees grew thriftily and in some cases showed fruit 
very soon after planting. The barren almond trees w-ere largely 
grafted into prunes or made into firewood and the conclusion 
was reached that to secure regularity and abundance in fruiting, 
locations for almond orchards must be sought with the utmost 
care, and that the secret of success lay in the location. After 
that local seedlings seemed to demonstrate their value in regular 
crops, and in characteristics and qualities superior to foreign 
kinds. Large planting was then undertaken on the ground that 
the choice of soil and situation, and the selection of trustworthy 
varieties, are both factors of success, but that possibly more lay 
in the choice of variety than of location. This belief led to wide 
planting in locations now seen to be unfitted by reason of frosts 
and at the close of the centurv' the almond acreage is being re- 
duced by cutting out unprofitable trees, and it seems to be fully 
demonstrated that no matter what variety is chosen, locations 

(406) 



The Alnwnd. 407 

for the almond must be selected with great care. It has also 
been demonstrated that association of varieties promote pollina- 
tion and satisfactory bearing. 

Situations and Soils for the Almond. — Almonds are now do- 
ing best on the higher lands in coast valleys, free from fogs and 
protected from direct winds, but subject to tempered breezes; 
also at various points in the interior valleys and foot-hills. The 
general proposition that low lands in small valleys should be 
avoided, and bench or hillside situations preferred, seems to be 
a safe one. Lands directly upon the coast have not proved sat- 
isfactory. 

The almond prefers a loose, light, warm soil, and heavy, 
poorly-drained soils should be avoided. Though they need 
moisture enough to, m.ake good, thrifty growth they will produce 
good crops on soils that are too light or dry to grow satisfactory 
peaches, apricots, nectarines, cherries, or similar pulpy fruit. 
The almond is, however, a very deep-rooting tree, and may suc- 
ceed by reaching deeply for moisture rather than by denying 
itself, as some think. The tree certainly suffers and is barren 
from drouth in some cases. 

Fropagating, Planting, and Priming. — The almond is prop- 
agated from seedlings grown as described in Chapter VIII, and 
budded as described in Chapter IX. The almond root is pre- 
ferred, though the peach answers well. The apricot root should 
be avoided. 

For planting out, trees in dormant bud are very successful 
if given proper care. Yearling trees are, on the whole, best, and 
usually those which have made a mo'lerate instead of a very large 
growth are to be preferred. The almond makes a comparatively 
large tree and should have plenty of room — not less than twent - - 
four feet apart (though some plantations are made at twenty 
feet), and thirty feet is better. 

The pruning of the almond is very simple. The tree should 
be headed low and pruned during the first three years, as de- 
scribed in Chapter XII, to secure a shapely, strong tree. After 
the third year little pruning is required except to thin out ob- 
jectionable branches by winter pruning. There is danger of al- 
lowing the trees to become too dense. Shortening in, as prac- 
tised with the peach, is not desirable with the almond. 

The cultivation of the almond orchard is the same as com- 
mended for other fniit trees, and as the trees are often planted 
in naturally dry soils, the greater care in cultivation is needed to 
retain suiificient moisture to give good size to the nuts. In cer- 
tain locations, of course, Irrigation will be necessary, but usually 
a light rainfall will answer if good cultivation is given. 



4o8 Handling Almonds. 

Gathering, H idling, and Bleaching. — xMmonds are gathered 
by spreading canvas under the tree and sh.aking the brandies 
separately; the few nuts remaining can be displaced by striking 
with a light stick. The gathering should be done after the hulls 
have burst open, but should not be delayed until the nuts are 
badlv discolored. Discoloration of the nut depends upon local 
atmospheric conditions and is worst in regions subject to moist 
winds or fogs from the ocean, and they often extend consider- 
able distances into the interior valleys. On dry plateaux adj.- 
cent to the Alojave Desert perfectly bright almonds are pro- 
duced naturally. 

Hulling is done with machines devised for that purpose. 
There are several in use and recently great capacity and cheap- 
ness of operation have been attained. 

For the greater part of the almond product bleaching is ap- 
parently demanded by market requirements. Sulphur should 
not be applied until the nut is thoroughly dry, or else the fumes 
will penetrate it, and not only spoil its flavor, but will destroy its 
germinating power. The nuts are dried by exposure to sun on 
platforms or trays, and in dewy places should be covered during 
the night. After being well dried, sprinkle the nuts sufficiently 
to moisten the shell surface and apply sulphur fumes. Various 
home-made contrivances are used for bleaching, such as piling 
up several of the slat-bottom trays one upon another, placing 
around them sides made of boards so as to hook together at the 
corners, cover the top with a damp canvas, and burn the sulphur 
in a hole in the ground below the bottom tray. 

Webster Treat, of Davisville, a large grower of almonds, 
describes his sulphuring-house for almonds: — 

My bleaching-hoiise is .ibout twenty-five feet by eight feet, and I 
generally put in about four thousand pounds of almonds, and expose 
ihem to sulphur fumes for three or four hours. The house is boarded 
with tongue and groove flooring, inside and out, and roofed with well- 
laid shingles, and has a flue about two feet high on the apex, to help 
draft the sulphur smoke up. The floor is of one-by-three-inch stuff, set 
up edgewise, three-eighths of an inch apart, or just wide enough to ad- 
mit the fumes from the sulphur burning below, and narrow enough to 
prevent the nuts from falling through. The floor is about two and 
one-half feet above the ground, and the lower space is boarded up with 
tongue and groove also, and fitted with small doors every five feet, so 
that the sulphur pans can be placed underneath the floor. 

Sulphur fumes are applied until the nuts are of a light yel- 
lowish color; the proper shade is tc be learned by securing ap- 
proved samples from some trustworthy dealer. 

Varieties of the Almond. — Almonds should bear well every 
year, hull easily, have clean, thin, soft shells, and a smooth, 
bright, and plump kernel. Almonds with long, single kernels 



Varieties of the Almond. 409 

are preferred in general to those which have double ones. These 
are the characters which ruled in the selection of new varieties 
by our leading propagator of new almonds, A. T. Hatch, for- 
merly of Suisun. In 1878 Mr. Hatch planted out about two 
thousand five hundred seedling almond trees grown from bitter 
almond seed. He afterward budded all the seedlings but about 
three hundred, which were left to bearing age unbudded. The 
fruit of these seedlings was of all degrees of excellence. A few 
of the best of them were selected for propagation and naming, 
and they constitute the chief part of the large acreage which is 
now credited to the almond in Chapter A'l. 

Excellent seedling almonds have also been produced by 
other growers. The following list mcludes the sorts most widely 
grown : — 

IXL. — "Tree a sturdy, rather upright grower, with large leaves; nuts 
large, with, as a rule, single kernels; hulls easily, no machine being 
needed, nor is any bleaching necessary; shell soft, but perfect. It bears 
heavily and regularly." — A. T. Hatch. 

Ne Phis Ultra. — Large and very long in shape; heavy and regular 
bearer; soft shell; hull free. 

Nonpareil. — First called E.vtra. Of a weeping style of growth; 
smaller foliage than the IXL, but still forms a beautiful tree. An 
extraordinarily heavy and regular bearer, with very thin shell, of the 
Paper Shell type. 

Lezvellings Fro//^r.— Originated with the late Mr. John Lewelling; 
"tree a great bearer; of drooping habit; nut large and good; soft shell; 
hull het."— Leonard Coates. 

Harriott's Seedling (or Commercial.) — From Visalia, where it is a 
surer cropper than elsewhere; shell softer than the Languedoc; nut long, 
of peculiar shape, quite large; kernel sweet. 

King's Soft Shell. — Originated in San Jose; shell very thin and soft; 
regular and abundant bearer. 

Princess.- — The finest of the Paper Shell class; long, oval, kernel 
large, white and sweet. 

Languedoc. — Nut large; shell thin; kernel sweet; condemned for 
irregular bearing. 

Paper Shell. — Medium size; shell very tender, easily broken between 
the finger and thumb; kernel large, white and sweet. 

Drake's Seedling. — Originated with Mr. Drake, of Suisun, of the 
Languedoc class; very prolific, and a regular, abundant bearer. The 
latest blooming variety. 

Golden State. — Originated by Webster Treat. A large soft-shell, 
somewhat longer than the Languedoc, with a full, smooth-skinned meat; 
parts from the hull readily. An early variety, but in less favor than 
formerly. 

THE CHESTNUT. 

The chestnut is not yet produced in large amount in Cali- 
fornia, and certain quantities of the nuts are annually imported, 
the American, Italian, or Spanish and Japanese all being found 
in the San Francisco markets. Of chestnuts grown in Califor- 



27 



4IO Chestnut and Filbert. 

nia, the Italian predominates, and the Japanese is more common 
than the American, which is slow of growth and late in fruiting, 
as compared yn\\\ the other kinds. Judging by the success of 
the Italian, it may be said that a large area of California is well 
suited for the growth of the chestnut, as there are bearing trees 
in nearly all parts of the State. The chestnut succeeds on 
heavy, clayey soil, even if it be quite rocky. 

Chestnut trees are readily grown from the seed, and thus 
grown come into bearing in from six to eight years, though ihe 
Japanese sometimes bears sooner. The growth of chestnuts 
from the seed is described in Chapter VIII. In growing from 
seed of the improved varieties, there is a tendency toward rever- 
sion, and budding and grafting may be resorted to; budding is 
done by the ring method, as described in Chapter XXVIII. 
The chestnut can also be grafted with the ordinary cleft graft. 
Buds or scions should be taken from trees which are fruiting 
satisfactorily, and in this way seedlings which have a tendency 
to bear empty burs can be turned to good account. Chestnuts 
can be grown in the nursery until several years old, providing 
they are lifted at the end of the first year, the taproot cut off, 
and the trees reset, giving them rather more room than during 
their first year's growth. In permanent plantings the trees 
should have plenty of room, as they ultimately attain great size. 
Mr. R. G. Sneath reports seeing trees at Grass Valley, Nevada 
County, about twenty years old, which are fifteen inches in diam- 
eter of trunk, and forty feet high, and reported to be bearing a 
barrel of nuts to the tree regularly. Felix Gillet, of Nevada 
City, has for many vears made a specialty of propagating a large 
collection of the improved French varieties of the chestnut, 
known as Marrons, which are now quite largely distributed. 
The chestnut has not however, attained any considerable product 
as yet. The chestnut, aside from its desirability as an orchard 
tree, can be commended as a tree for hillsides or a shade tree for 
wavsides or pastures, and should be more widely planted in Cal- 
ifornia. 

THE FILBERT. 

The best English cob-nuts have been quite widely tried in 
California without successful results. Improved Spanish and 
French varieties of the filbert were early introduced by Felix 
Gillet, of Nevada City, and have been favorably reported by him 
as to growth and bearing. A few other growers in foot-hill situ- 
ations have reported success, but as a rule disappointment has 
attended ventures with the filbert. The most favorable regions 
for farther experiment are apparently the north slopes of the 
Coast Kange, and other cooler and moister situations, as well 
as at an elevation on the Sierra foot-hills, where Mr. Gillet pro- 
nounces them satisfactorv. 



Peanut and Pecan. 411 

THE PEANUT. 

During- the last few years the peanut product of Cahfornia 
has notably increased and the crop is a popular one in some 
parts of the San Joaquin Valley and southern California. The 
nuts are considerably grown between the rows in young or- 
chards and vineyards, as well as upon grovuid wholly given to 
them. The following explicit directions are given by R. M. 
Hargrave, a grower in. Orange County. Some slight modifica- 
tions in practise may be needed, according to locality, as, for 
example, in time of planting, which is visually a little earlier than 
the date given: — 

Flavtmg — The best time to plant peanuts is about the middle of May, 
say loth to 15th, in rows about three to four feet apart and sixteen to 
twenty inches the other way, and not cover too deep — three or four inches. 
Peanuts planted the middle of May ripen evenly and are of uniform size. 
Very early peanuts ripen unevenly, and the first nuts that set on get so 
ripe they turn to a -pink color, and if the land is a little sandy the stems 
get soft, lose their strength, and will not lift the nuts from the ground. 

It takes about thirty pounds of the California or White Virginia, 
and fifty pounds of the Tennessee Reds, to plant an acre. Tennessee 
peanuts can be planted much closer in the. rows. The California pea- 
nut is the best to plant, as it yields three or four times as much as the 
Tennessee Reds do, and has more ready sale. 

The Quality of Land. — Peanuts require a rich, sandy soil loam, that 
is known as upland. Damp land gives the nuts a straw color, and they 
are not as good a quality as those raised on higher land. They require 
no irrigation, except on very sandy land, where some have found it 
profitable; but, as a usual thing, when irrigated the ground is liable to 
get hard, making the nuts crooked, ill-shaped, and many times coloring 
them. 

Cultivation. — Peanuts should be cultivated about the same as corn, 
not allowing any weeds to grow in them, keeping the ground loose and 
mellow, and when the spikes begin to form, they should not be dis- 
turbed. If they are, it causes the nuts to blight or not fill out. The 
blooms do not require to be covered. 

Harvesting. — Peanuts should be harvested when ripe, and not al- 
lowed to stand too long, in hopes that the last ones set out will fill 
out and ripen, as you lose more than you gain. The little ones spoil 
the sale of the crop, and many are left in the ground that get overripe. 
Peanuts should be cut or plowed out and thrown into windrows, nuts 
down, and let lie a week or ten days, and then sacked, as the best nuts 
are cured in that way, and they do not mold so badly, and cure a better 
color. They must not be allowed to get wet. The tops are good feed 
if stored away in a shed for winter use. All kinds of stock like them, 
and small nuts can be left on the vines. They make the best chicken 
feed. An average yield is about twenty-five to thirty sacks to the acre, 
forty pounds to a sack, but many have raised fifty sacks, with extra 
care and good land well adapted to peanuts. 

THE PECAN. 

The pecan, by rapid growth, early fruiting, and general 
thrift, seems to be the member of the hickory family best fitted 



412 The Pistachio. 

for California conditions. A tree grown from a nut planted by 
J. R. Wolfskin, on Putah Creek, in 187S was, in 1894, over tifty 
feet iiigh, with a trunk twelve inches in diameter, growing lux- 
uriantly and bearing freely. Still older trees, also' very satis- 
factory in growth and bearing, are to be seen at Chico and Vi- 
salia. The pecan, though grown for thirty years by different 
jjarties around the bay of San Francisco, either does not bear or 
keeps the nuts hanging on until sometimes they sprout on the 
tree. The wider extremes in temperature or in humidity in the 
interior seem to teach the tree better habits of growth and rest. 
As'yet, California has no large marketable product of pecans. 

Pecan trees grow readily from the nuts if these are fresh. 
Planters should secure nuts of selected varieties (for there is a 
great difference in size and quality) direct from growers in the 
sou*:bern States, and plant as scon as received, in the early winter, 
or if conditions are not favorable for planting, the nuts should 
be stored as described in Chapter VIII. Nuts planted in good 
nursery ground in rows as there suggested, and covered about 
two inches or a little deeper in dry, loose soil, and then mulched 
to retain moisture, will germinate freely. The trees should be 
transplanted to permanent place at the end of the first year, and 
then usually the taproot can be retained, as some growers deem 
very desirable; if the trees are to be put in permanent place later 
they should be transplanted in the nursery and the taproot cut 
off. The nuts can, of course, be planted at once in permanent 
place if one will take the extra trouble necessary to properly care 
for them. 

THE PISTACHIO. 

The pistachio nut fPistachia vera) was introduced a number 
of years ago but no results have been reported. The species 
upon its own root makes a low sliru!) and is very slow of growth. 
We have also imported the Pistachia terebinthus, from which is 
derived the "chio turpentine," and which is the stock upon which 
the true pistachio is grafted in Europe. It is a very hardy tree, 
the largest specimens probably being on the Rixford Ranch, in 
the Sonoma Valley. 

THE ENGLISH OR PERSIAN W^\LNUT. 

The nut which, is signified in California when the term wal- 
nut is used, is the English walnut or Madeira nut (Jitglans regia) 
and its many varieties. This tree makes a grand growth in Cal- 
ifornia. Specimens can be found here and there, which, at about 
twenty years of age, are from fifty to sixty feet in height, with a 
spread of branches of forty to sixty feet, and in some cases bear- 
ing four to eight hundred pounds of nuts. Such trees can be 
found in the rich vallevs of both northern and southern Califor- 



The English Walnut. 



413 



nia, but, as has already been stated, the EngHsh Vv^ahiut has thus 
far been produced in large quantities only in regions adjacent 
to the coast in southern California, though there are promising 
plantations farther removed from coast influences. The equable 
temperature of the southern coast seems, however, to specially 
favor the nut. A number of French varieties, which have been 
widely enough distributed to test their growth, have been found 
to thrive in many situations where the old Los Angeles variety 
is a failure, and there is at present quite a disposition to larger 







1 


cPh 


MBHJt ^^Sf 




^, 


I ■ .^ r<. :;mtmW- 


i 




1 


. >-::. 






PMlf/C fiUML P/f£5i . 





Six-year-old English Walnut of A. E. Cole — Old San Bernardino. 

plantings of the walnut, as a sole occupant of the land or as 
border trees around fruit orchards. At the South the walnut 
area has largely increased in those situations where the tree 
shows most satisfactory bearing qualities. In the South newer 
varieties of California origin, like the Improved Soft Shell, con- 
stitute most of the present area. In all untried places, or in all 
places where the old Los Angeles Wahi'.it has failed, trial should 



414 Propagating Wain uts. 

be made of the hardy French varieties, which will be described 
farther on. Recently considerable planting has been done in the 
coast and ulterior valleys and foot-hills of central California upon 
the quite fully demonstrated success of these varieties. It is, 
however, very desirable to secure satisfactory depth and reten- 
tiveness, without excess of water, in the soil. The walnut abiio. s 
, drouth as well as standing water. 

Soils -for the Walnut. — The walnut makes most rapid growth 
upon a deep, rich, moist, loamy soil, and shows its appreciation 
of good things of the earth as do other fruit trees, and yet it at- 
tains satisfactory size and bearing in less favorable situations. 
Thriving trees can be found in the clays and decomposed granite 
soils of the foot-hills, as well as in tlie valley silts and loams. 
Adequate moisture must, hov^^ever, be had, and the walnut can 
not be commended for dry, neglected places. 

Propagation. — The walnut tree grows readily from nuts 
treated as described in Chapter VHI. In the main the use of 
seedlings prevails, and the nut is usually considered to come true 
from seed. Excellent results have, however, been obtamed by 
using the California black walnut as a stock for the English wal- 
nut, and in that case budding or grafting nmst be resorted to. 
Many instances of the success of the English walnut on our 
native stock might be cited, but the most notable tree known 
to the writer is to be seen on the grounds of John R. Wolfskill, 
on Putah Creek, in Solano County. He put in a bud in 1875 
and the tree has reached immense size and large product. Since 
then many large native black walnuts have been top-grafted 
with English walnut with notable success. 

In working on the native California seedling stocks, Mr. 
Clowes, of Stockton, buds by tlie common method, removing the 
wood from the inside of the plate of bark, as advised for the 
orange. Twig buds as used with the olive (Chapter XXIX) are 
also successful, and ring budding (see page 325) works well on 
shoots of a year's growth, which have at least attained the thick- 
ness of the middle finger. Mr. Gillet advises that the buds 
should be set at the base of these shoots where the wood is per- 
fectly round. The bandage should pass above and below the 
bud so that the bark under it may be pressed down close upon 
the stock, and this is more surely gained by shaving ofif the base 
of the leaf stem, below the bud. about to the point where it 
would separate when the leaf naturally falls of¥. 

Grafting into the black walnut seedling root can also be 
well done by a triangular cut into the edge of the root stump, as 
described for grafting into grape-vine stumps. In the case of 
the walnut, close binding with a wax band is desirable. 

Large walnut trees can be worked over either by budding or 
grafting. If by budding, the large limbs are cut back in the 



Plant itig and Pruning Wabiuts. 415 

winter, and in August following, ring buds are put on as many 
of the new shoots as may be desired. In grafting, the common 
cleft graft is used, but the split should not be made through the 
pith, but at one side; the scions should be whittled so as to show 
as little pith as possible. This is done by cutting down to a 
point at one side and not in the center of the scion. Care should 
be taken to cover all exposed surfaces. Grafting over in this 
way is desirable either for substituting a better variety of Eng- 
lish walnut, or for workmg over a California black walnut into 
an English variety. 

Planting V/alnni Orchards. — There is much difference in 
practise in planting out walnut trees in permanent place. 
Some advocate the use of trees two or three years from the seed, 
getting as much of the taproot as possible; others allow the tree 
to remain in nursery until it throws out laterals, which is usually 
done the fourth or fifth year. Two-year-old trees are generally 
preferred, but walnut trees of many times that age can be suc- 
cessfully transplanted if the work is carefully done. Walnut 
trees are usually set forty feet in squares, though some give the 
larger-growing varieties fifty feet. Planting in hexagon a Is at 
forty-five feet distance gives ver}^ satisfactory results. Some 
growers plant in squares at thirty feet distance, intending to re- 
move alternate trees as they crowd each other, first cutting back, 
for a time, the trees which are finally to be removed. 

hitercultures zvith the Walnuts. — In the southern walnut re- 
gions it is common' to grow beans, squashes, etc., between the 
rows of trees until the latter reach bearing age ; root crops which, 
attract gophers should be avoided. Inter-planting of smaller, 
early-fruiting trees is also practised to a considerable extent. 

Pruning the Walnut. — The walnut is usually headed higher 
than ordinary orchard trees, but preference is now given to start- 
ing the first branch at about four feet fioin the ground instead of 
six feet as formerly. All the pruning needed is in shaping the 
tree as described for the fig. Upward trend of the branches 
should be secured, sometimes by cutting out the shoots which 
grow downward, sometimes by tying them up for a time to the 
central stem until they are stiff enough to retain this position. 
Placing branches on the stem according to the principles ad- 
vanced in Chapter XII, should be borne in mind. The stem 
•should be protected from sunburn until the foliage accomplishes 
this. Whenever shoots are killed back by sunburn or by frost, 
they should be cut off cleanly below the black mark which shows 
how far the injury has extended. If this is done, the die-back 
down the branch is usually prevented. 

Bloom and Bearing of the Walnut. — The walnut has its stam- 
inate and pistillate blooms separate, but both occur on the same 



4i6 



Bloom of the Walnut. 



tree, as shown by the engraving of a twig with both associated. 
All the buds marked a are staminate, and will develop into cat- 




I 



Fig. I. Staminate and pistillate buds of the walnut. 










Fig. 2. Catkin of the walnut. 




Fig. 3. Pistils and embryo nuts. 



kins, shown in Fig. 2. The terminal buds h are pistillate and 
will develop into embryo nuts, each bearing a little branched 



Gathering Walnuts. 417 

plume-like pistil, as shown in Fig. 3. The bud marked c in Fig. 
I is a leaf bud. 

Successful fruiting depends upon the appearance of these 
two forms of bloom, without too great interval of time, and the 
lack of bearing of some varieties has been found to be due to the 
fact that the catkins disappeared too long before the pistillate 
bloom was sufficiently developed to receive the pollen. 

The bearing age of the walnut depends upon the variety. 
Some of the French varieties now grown Jiere are very pre- 
cocious and have borne fruit in nursery row at twO' and three 
years old, but the pistillate blooms were then fertilized from 
catkins growing on older trees. The practical bearing age of 
the English walnut in this State may be rated at six to eight 
years, according to the variety. 

Gathering walnuts is done in difterent ways; some gather 
them from the ground at intervals during the months of Sep- 
tember and October; others use poles and clean the trees at 
one operation; some go over the ground three times; first, 
picking up what have fallen; second, picking up what have fal- 
len, and striking the limbs lightly to dislodge others which are 
ripest; third, picking up again and then knocking off all that re- 
main on the trees. In this way gathering lasts a month or six 
weeks. Walnuts, after gathering, are usually treated as de- 
scribed by F. E. Kellogg, of Santa Barbara County: — 

As fast as gathered the nuts are placed in slat-bottomed trays 6x3 
feet, by six inches deep, about fifty pounds in a tray, where they are 
allowed to dry for three or four days, being thoroughly shaken up once 
or twice a day. If the weather is very hot, they should be dried in the 
shade. When the nuts are dry they are passed through an inclined, 
revolving grader, making about twelve revolutions per minute, having 
a one-inch-mesh wire screen, and all that fall through this are called 
"seconds." The lower end of the grader dips into a vat of water, thor- 
oughly wetting the nuts and washing them to a certain extent — entirely 
sufficient for paper shells and soft shells, and usually enough for hard 
shells. A system of buckets attached to the drum of the grader then 
elevates the nuts to a chute, which discharges them into a large box 
4x4x8 feet high, with an inclined slat bottom two and one-half feet above 
the ground. While in this box, they are subjected to the fumes of sul- 
phur for twenty to thirty minutes for the purpose of improving the 
color. The second grade walnuts are also put through the washing and 
sulphuring process. The nuts are next drawn off from the bleachers into 
the drying trays, piled one on top of the other, to prevent the sun from 
shining directly on the nuts, and remain there for ten or twelve hours, 
until the nuts are thoroughly dried of¥. The trays are then emptied into 
a hopper, from which the nuts are drawn off ir.to bags containing some- 
thing over one hundred pounds each; the bags are securely sewed up and 
stamped with the producer's brand, and the nuts are ready for shipment. 

Dipping instead of Sulphuring. — Sulphuring often injures 
the flavor of the kernel and dipping is coming into wide use. 



41 8 Bleaching IVahuds. 

The following formula has been furnished to growers by the 
University Experiment Station: — 

Six pounds bleaching powder (also called chloride of lime), twelve 
pounds sal-soda, fifty gallons water. Dissolve the bleaching powder in 
about four gallons of water, stirring till dissolved. Dissolve the sal- 
^oda in about four gallons of water. Add one solution to the other 
and stir well; let the carbonate of lime settle to the bottom and draw 
of¥ the clear liquor and add water to make a total of fifty gallons. Put 
the nuts in large dipping box or lath crate, immerse in the fluid, and then 
add one and one-fourth pounds of fifty per cent sulphuric acid and 
agitate by raising and lowering the dipping box. The bleach should 
be reached in five to ten seconds, and the nuts are then washed in clear 
water and put out to dry. Of course to employ this process cheaply 
specially contrived dipping appliances are used. The same liquor can 
be used with new batches of nuts so long as the proper efifect is pro- 
duced, and small additions of acid will prolong the efficiency of the 
liquor. 

Varieties of the Walnut. — Of walnuts of California origin 
there are two classes, which are called "hard" and "soft" shell, 
but the accepted commercial product is largely composed of the 
soft-shell class. Several varieties of French walnuts are now 
being widely distributed. An attempt will be made tO' give 
some of the distinctive points of each variety mentioned: — 

Common English Walnut; Los Angeles Nut, etc. — This is the ordinary 
English walnut of commerce. It was planted at an early day in Los 
Angeles County, but is now largely replaced by the Improved Soft Shell. 

Santa Barbara Soft Shell; Sexton's Soft Shell. — Originated by Joseph 
•Sexton, who gives this account of its origin and characteristics: "The 
winter of 1867 I bought in San Francisco a large sack of English wal- 
nuts. I raised about one thousand trees that season, and planted two 
hundred of them the following spring, in orchard form, at Goleta. 
Sixty of them proved to be the soft-shell variety. The soft shell is a 
little later in starting in the spring than the common nut, and blooms 
about ten days later. It commences to fruit at six years old from the 
seed, and some have been known to fruit as young as the fourth year. 
The hard shell commences to fruit about the ninth year, and bears full 
crops alternate years. The soft shell is not as strong a grower as the 
other walnut; it being so prolific retards its growth. It is a superior 
nut; the kernel is white. The shell is thin, rendering them easily broken 
by the hand, at the same time strong enough to bear transportation to 
any part of the United States " 

Ford's Improved Soft Shell. — G. W. Ford, of Santa Ana, propagated 
an "Improved Soft Shell," gained by selection from the variety of 
Joseph Sexton, which has been largely planted. 

Proeparturiens — This famous French variety was introduced in Cal- 
ifornia in 1871, by Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, and has since then been 
brought in by other parties, and is now widely distributed Its chief 
characteristic, as its nsme indicates, is early bearing. The variety 
blooms from two to four weeks later than the common Los Angeles 
seedling; it shows both kinds of bloom simultaneously, and has the 
characteristics of ripening its wood well, and high quality of the nut. 



Varieties of the IVahmt. 419 

Other French J'arieties.- — Quite .large collections of French varieties 
other than Proeparturiens have been introduced by Mr. Gillet and 
others. The Cluster walnut fruits, as its name indicates, in long bunches, 
sometimes as many as fifteen in a bunch; otherwise the tree resem- 
bles the common English walnut. The Mayette is a large, full-fleshed, 
and sweet nut, very late in budding out in the spring, and suited for 
frosty places. The Franquette is a very large, elongate-oval, blooms 
late, and is commended for size and quality of the nut. The Parisienne 
is a beautiful variety, the nut large, broad, and shapely; the tree blooms 
very late. All the foregoing varieties and the Serotina, Barthere Me- 
sange, Gant, and Chaberte, were introduced by Mr. Gillet, in 1871. 

Kaghasi. — A variety called Kaghazi was grown and propagated for 
several years by the late James Shinn, of Niles, who described it as fol- 
lows: "Very much larger than the ordinary kinds, and thinner shelled. 
The tree is late in putting out leaves and blossoms, and is, therefore, 
especially good for places that are in danger of last frosts." 

Japanese IValniit; Juglans Sieholdiana. — This species, native of the 
north of Japan, was introduced to California about i860, and a tree 
grown from seed planted about that time is growing at the Tower House, 
in Shasta County. Recently the good points of the tree have been 
more widely recognized. The following excellent description is by 
Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa: "This species is found growing wild 
in the mountains of northern Japan, and is, without doubt, as hardy as 
an oak. The leaves are of immense size, and a charming shade of green. 
The nuts, which are produced in extreme abundance, grow in clusters 
of fifteen or twenty, have a shell thicker than the English walnut, but 
not as thick as the black walnut, very much resembling pecan nuts. The 
meat is sweet, of the very best quality, flavor like butternut, but less 
oily, and much superior. The trees grow with great vigor, assume a 
very handsome form, need no pruning, mature early, bear young, and 
are more regular and productive than the English walnut." The nut 
has an exceedingly hard shell and does not rate commercially with the 
popular varieties of the English walnut. 



PART EIGHTH: FRUIT PRESERVATION 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FRUIT CANNING, CRYSTALLIZING, AND DRYING. 

The preservation of fruit in various ways for home use and 
distant shipment, is one of the leading industries of CaHfornia, 
employing a large amount of capital and labor, and distributing 
a vast amount of money among our people. These facts can 
be best emphasized by statements of the product of 1897, in the 
leading methods of preservation, by canning and drying. The 
crop of 1898 was seriously reduced by drouth and frost and that 
of 1899 is incomplete at this writing. 

CANNED FRUIT PRODUCT OF 1897.* 

Cases. 

Table fruits, 2>^-Ib. cans, two dozen per case , 1,753.280 

Pie fruits, " " " " " 27,883 

" i-gal. " one " " 118,403 

Jams and jellies, 2-lb. " two " " 43.416 

Total 46,631,568 2>^-lb. cans, or 1,942,982 

This product was the output of thirty-eight canning estab- 
lishments, located in different parts of the State, and the product 
is weighed and valued upon page 56. So far as the comparative 
use of different fruits can be made out, it is as follows: — 

Cases. Cases. 

Apples 7,421 Pears, other 11,500 

Apricots 317,408 Peaches 738,794 

Cherries, black 32,331 Plums 122.630 

Cherries, white 110,170 Quinces ...^ ;. 5,199 

Currants 5,697 Strawberries 8,166 

Grapes 32,206 Raspberries 3,8io 

Nectarines i>369 Blackberries 20,976 

Pears, Bartlett 329,794 Gooseberries 4,809 

*" California Fruit Grower," Nov. 5, 1898. 
(420) 



The Canning Industry. 



421 



CURED FRUIT PRODUCT IN POUNDS. 

Kind. 1894 1895 1896 1897 

Raisins ioj,ooo,ooo 91,360,000 68,250,600 93,704,000 

Prunes 44,750,000 64,500,000 55,200,000 97,780,000 

Peaches 30,540,000 24,500,000 16,460,000 27,150,000 

Pears 6,530,000 5,400,000 9,650,000 6,350,000 

Apricots 28,750,000 10,650,000 6,740,000 30,125,000 

Dried Grapes 4,500,000 4,250,000 2,690,000 3,450,000 

Apples 5,850,000 4,560,000 2,350,000 5,250,000 

Figs 1,540,000 2,750,000 2,160,000 3,250,000 

Plums 2,760,000 4,500,000 2,100,000 3,250,000 

Nectarines 1,250,000 1,350,000 625,000 285,000 

Totals 229,470,000 213,820,000 166,225,600 270,594,000 



THE CANNING INDUSTRY. 

Fruit canning' began in California about forty years ago, 
but during the last two decades has attained its greatness, and 
is now promising much wider extension. The process is sim- 
ple, and yet is attended at every point, from the purchase of the 
fruit to the sale of the product, with operations which require 
experience, wisdom, and good judgment. It will be obviously 
impossible to give in print a guide to the pursuit of such an 
industry. The principles involved in the process of commercial 
canning are, of course, the same as rule in the old kitchen 
processes, but to secure uniformity and cheapness of product a 
vast number of manipulations and appliances have been de- 
vised. These begin with the manufacture of the cans and at- 
tend the product to the end, and the realization of the commercial 
and uniform production which they assure involves the em- 
ployment of large capital and the keenest business ability. The 
canning interest has, therefore, segregated itself more and more 
widely from the growing interest. Orchard canning on a small 
scale which was once thought feasible has passed out of sight 
except as it is seen to lie in the foundations of a few of the 
smaller canneries which have been built upon it. It seems 
clear now that as a rule the fruit grower's duty to the canning 
interest ceases with the production of acceptable fruit unless 
individuals or associations can command capital enough tO' enter 
the field on equal vantage with the large commercial canneries. 
Capital is flowing toward the business; the field for the product 
seems to be constantly expanding, and canning centers are mul- 
tiplying throughout the State wherever ample supplies of good 
fruits and vegetables are available. 

Varieties for Canning. — The table previously given showing 
the fruits which enter in various amounts into the canned 
product gives a general idea of what fruits should be planted to 
minister to the canner's demand. As tO' varieties, it is not easy 



422 Crystallized Fruits. 

to make a general prescription, because the choice differs some- 
what with different locahties. It is a good idea for the new 
planter to consult with owners of adjacent ^bearing orchards and 
to secure from the nearest canneries lists which are acceptable 
to them. 

CRYSTALLIZED FRUITS. 

Progress is being continually made in the production of 
candied, crystallized, or glace fruits, but the product is not a 
large one. Special establishments are now doing this work in 
I.os Angeles, San Jose, and San Francisco. They have proc- 
esses which are the result of considerable experimentation, and 
they do not make them public. To others- the way lies open to 
similar experim.entation. The general theory and an outline of 
practise as given by J. J. Pratt, of the Yuba City Cannery, is as 
follows : — 

The theory is to extract the juice from the fruit, and replace it with 
sugar syrup, which, upon hardening, preserves the fruit from decay, and 
at the same time retains the natural shape of the fruit. All kinds of 
fruit are capable of being preserved under this process. Though the 
method is very simple, there is a certain skill required that is acquired 
only by practise. The several successive steps in the process are about 
as follows: — 

First, the same care in selecting and grading the fruit should be 
taken as for canning; that is, the fruit should be all of one size, and as 
near the same ripeness as possible. The exact degree of ripeness is of 
great importance, which is at that stage when fruit is best for canning. 
Peaches, pears, etc., are pared and cut in halves, as .for canning; plums, 
cherries, etc., are pitted. The fruit, having thus been carefully prepared, 
is put in a basket,, or a bucket with a perforated bottom, and immersed 
in boiling water. The object of this is to dilute and extract the juice 
of the fruit. The length of time the fruit is immersed is the most 
maportant part of the process. If left too long, it is overcooked and 
becomes soft; if not immersed long enough, the juice is not sufficiently 
extracted, which prevents a perfect absorption of the sugar. 

After the fruit has been thus scalded and allowed to cool, it can 
again be assorted as to softness. The next step is the syrup, which is 
made of white sugar and water. The softer the fruit, the lieavier the 
syrup required. Ordinarily about seventy degrees. Balling's saccha- 
rometer, is about the proper weight for the syrup. 

The fruit is then placed in earthen pans, and covered with the syrup, 
where it is left to remain about a week. The sugar enters the fruit and 
displaces what juice remained after the scalding process. 

The fruit now requires careful watching, as fermentation will soon 
take place, and when this has reached a certain stage, the fruit and 
syrup are heated to a boiling degree, which checks the fermentation. 
This heating process should be repeated as often as necessary for about 
six weeks. 

The fruit is then taken out of the syrup, and washed in clean water, 
and it is then ready to be either glaced or crystallized, as the operator 
may wish. If glaced, the fruit is dipped in thick sugar syrup and left to 
harden quickly in the open air. If it is to be crystallized, dip in the 
same kind of syrup, but allow to cool and harden slowly, thus caus- 



Fruit Drying. 423 

ing the sugar which covers the fruit to crystalHze. The fruit is now 
ready for boxing and shipping. Fruit thus prepared will keep in any 
climate and stand transportation. 

Thus far the crystallized fruit produced in California has 
sold well. There is a considerable importation of French fruit 
to the United States, which may be displaced by the California 
product, and the business commends itself to those who have 
ingenuity, patience, and capital enough to enable them to ex- 
periment and wait for future success. The California producer 
has the advantage of an abundance of very fine fruit at a low 
price. According to the consular reports, the fruits best for 
crystallizing are not cheap in France. 

FRUIT DRYING. 

To describe minutely the methods and appliances employed 
for the drying of fruit in California would reqture a volume, and 
is beyond the scope of this treatise. A very small fraction of 
the California dried fruit product is made by artificial heat. 
Since it was first ascertained that, by the use of sulphur before 
exposing the fruit to the sun, it can be cured without darkenmg 
its color, sun drying has largely taken the place of machine dry- 
ing. The capacity of any machine is infinitesimal as compared 
with the acreage of sunshine. Owing to the beatitiful light color 
of the fruit and the great care in boxing and adorning it, Cali- 
fornia sun-dried fruit sells as evaporated fruit — than which a 
higher commercial tribute can not be paid to its excellence. 
Though this is true, there is probably still a great field for 
machine driers, especially in the upper coast region, and they 
are also used on a large scale by firms and associations as a sup- 
plement to sun drying. Their capacity and economical use of 
heat are continually being improved, and their product, when 
well manipulated, approaches perfection as a preserved product. 

Although the sun drying of fruit may be a simple process, 
so manv little arts, methods, and appliances are continually be- 
ing introduced to facilitate work or improve the product, that 
one can learn much by visiting the dififerent fruit regions during 
the drying season. Such a course is commended to growers 
who contemplate large drying operations, for suggestions of 
great economic importance can be secured. The notes of prac- 
tise which can be given in this connection must be brief and 
general. 

Trays for Drying. — The greater part of the fruit, including 
raisins, is placed upon trays for exposure to the sun. There is 
great variation in the size of the trays. The common small tray 
is made of one-half-inch sugar-pine lumber two feet wide and 



424 Trays for Drying. 

three feet long, the boards forming it being held together by 
nailing to a cleat on each end, one by one and a quarter inches, 
and a lath or narrow piece of half-inch stuf¥ is nailed over the 
ends of the boards, thus stiffening the tray and aiding to prevent 
varping. A cross-section of such a tray is shown at A. 

EL '^ J11 



Cross-sections of Drying Trays. 

A large tray which is used by some growers is foiu* feet 
square, and is made of slats three-eighths of an mch thick, and 
one and a half inches wide, the slats being nailed tO' three cross 
slats three-eighths of an inch thick and three inches wide, and 
the ends nailed to a narrow strip one-half mch thick by three- 
quarters of an inch wide on the other side. A crcs-.-secl:ioii of 
this tray is shown at B. 

Since large drying yards have been supplied with tramways 
and trucks for moving the fruit instead of hand carriage, larger 
trays, three feet by six or three feet by eight, have been largely 
employed. These tramways lead from the cutting sheds to the 
sulphur boxes and thence to various parts of the large drying 
grounds, making it possible to handle large amounts of fruit at 
a minimum cost. 

Protecting Fruit from Dezv. — In the interior there is seldom 
any deposit of dew in the drying season, but occasionally there 
are early rains before the drying season is over. The fruit is 
then protected by piling the trays one upon another, in which 
operation the thick cleats serve a good purpose. In dewy re- 
gions the trays are piled at night, or cloth or paper is sometimes 
stretched over the fruit, thus reducing the discoloration result- 
ing from deposits of moisture upon it. 

Drying Floors. — For the most part the trays are laid di- 
rectly on the ground, but sometimes a staging of posts and rails 
is built to support them, about twenty inches from the ground. 
The drying trays are sometimes distributed through the orchard 
or vineyard, thus drying the fruit with as little carrying as possi- 
ble. Others clear oiif a large space outside the plantation and 
spread the trays where full sunshine can be obtained. Drying 
spaces should be selected at a distance from traveled roads, to 
prevent the deposit of dust on the fruit. 

Grading. — It is of great advantage in drying to have all the 
fruit on a tray of approximately the same size, and grading be- 



Sulphuring Fruit. 425 

fore cutting is advisable. Machines are now made which ac- 
compHsh this very cheaply and quickly. 

Cxittlng- Sheds. — Shelter of some kind is always provided 
for the fruit-cutters. Sometimes it is only a temporary bower 
made of poles and beams upon which tree branches are spread 
as a thatch; sometimes open-side sheds with boarded roof, and 
sometimes a finished fruit-house is built, two stories high, the 
lower story opening with large doors on the north side, and 
with a large loft above, where the dried fruit can be sweated, 
packedi and stored for sale. The climate is such that almost 
any shelter which suits the taste and purse of the producer will 
answer the purpose. 

Sulphuring. — There is constant discussion concerning the 
desirability of sulphur fumes in connection with fruit drying. 
The discussion may result in educating buyers so that they will 
purchase unsulphured fruit at a good price, but they are of no 
such mind at present, and the producer can not afford to do 
otherwise than use sulphur on fruits on which the demand is for 
a light color. Sulphur-bleaching of old, discolored, sun-dried 
fruit in a sort of resurrecting process, is very different from the 
exposure of freshly-cut fruit to sulphur fumes before putting out 
in the sunshine. The latter is the practise which is at present 
usually signified by the term sulphuring, although sulphur is 
also used with the machine driers. 

There are various contrivances for the application of sul- 
phur fumes to the freshly-cut fruit. Some -are small for hand 
carriage of trays; some are large and the trays are wheeled into 
them upon trucks. The most common is a bottomless cabinet 
about five or six feet high, of a width equal to the length of the 
tray and a depth a little more than the width of the tray. The 
cabinet has a door the whole width of one side, and on the sides 
within cleats are nailed so that the trays of fruit slip in like 
drawers into a bureau. Some push in the trays so that the bot- 
tom one leaves a little space at the back, the next a little space 
at the front, and so on, that the fumes may be forced by the 
draft to pass between the trays back and forward. The essen- 
tials seem to be to open holes or dampers in the bottom and 
top of ihe cabinet so that the fumes from the sulphur burning at 
the bottom may be thoroughly distributed through the interior, 
and then all openings are tightly closed. To secure a tight 
chamber the door has its edges felted and the cabinet is made 
of matched lumber. The sulphur is usually put on a shovel or 
iron pot, and it is ignited by a hot coal, or a hot iron, or it is 
thrown on paper of which the edges are set on fire, or a little 
alcohol is put on the sulphur and lighted, etc. The sulphur is 
usually burned in a pit in the ground under the cabinet. The 

28 



426 Grading and Packing. 

application of sulphur must be watchfully and carefully made, 
and the exposure of the fruit should only be long enough to ac- 
complish the end desired. The exposure required differs with 
different fruits, and with the same fruits in different conditions, 
as must be learned by experience. 

Grading and Cleaning. — After the fruit is sufficiently dried, 
(and it is impossible to describe how this point may be recog- 
nized except by the experienced touch) it is gathered from the 
trays into large boxes and taken to the fruit house. Some 
growers put it into a revolving drum of punctured sheet iron, 
which rubs the pieces together and separates it from dust, etc., 
which falls out through the apertures as the drum revolves. 
Others empty the fruit upon a large wire-cloth table and pick- 
it over, grading it according to size and color, and at the same 
time the dust and small particles of foreign matter fall through 
the wire cloth. The fanning mill for cleaning grain may also 
be used for rapid separation of dirt, leaves, etc., with proper 
arrangement of metal screens. 

Sweating. — All fruit, if stored in mass after drying, becomes 
moist. This action should take place before packing. To 
facilitate it, the fruit is put in piles on the floor of the fruit-house 
and turned occasionally with a scoop shovel; or, if allowed to 
sweat in boxes, the fruit is occasionally poured from one box to 
another. The sweating equalizes the moisture throughout the 
mass. Some large producers have sweat-rooms with tight walls, 
which preserve an even temperature. No fruit should be packed 
before "gomg through the sweat.'' If this is not done, dis- 
coloration and injur}^ will result. 

Dipping before Packing. — All fruits except prunes can be 
packed in good condition without dipping, provided the fruit is 
not overdried. Efforts should be made to take up the fruit 
when it is just sufficiently cured to prevent subsequent fermenta- 
tion. If taken from the trays in the heat of the day and covered 
so that the fruit moth can not reach it there is little danger of 
worms. The highest grades of fruit are made in this way. If, 
however, the fruit has been overdried or neglected, it can be 
dipped in boiling water to kill eggs of vermin, and to make the 
fruit a little more pliable for the press. The dipping should be 
done quickly, and the fruit allowed to drain and then lie in a 
dark room, carefully covered, for twenty-four hours before pack- 
ing. 

Pecking. — To open well, packages of dried fruit should be 
"faced." The many fine arts of paper lining, etc., must be 
learned by observation. Flatten some fair specimens of the 
fruit to be packed (and reference is especially made to such 
fruits as apricots, peaches, and nectarines) by running them 



Dried Apples and Apricots. 427 

through a clothes' wringer or similar pair of rollers. Do not 
face with better fruit than the package is to contain. It is a 
fraud which will not in the end be profitable. Lay the flattened 
fruit (cup side down) neatly in the bottom of the box. Fill the 
box until it reaches the amount the box is to contain, and then 
apply the press until the bottom can be nailed on. Invert the 
box and put on the label or brand; the bottom then become the 
top. 

Many dififerent kinds of boxes are used. A very good size 
is made of seasoned pine, six inches deep by nine inches wide by 
fifteen inches long, inside measurements, and it will hold twenty- 
five pounds of fruit. 

METHODS WITH DIFFERENT FRUITS. 

As already intimated, it will be impossible to enter minutely 
into the operations of drying and packing on a commercial scale, 
or even to notice all the small and ingenious arts by which the 
work is facilitated. Any one who contemplates production on 
a large scale should personally visit leading regions and inform 
himself by inquiry and observation. Such an education will 
save mistakes, which may cost many times more than the ex- 
pense of getting it. California producers are usually quite will- 
ing to show visitors the methods they employ. Though this is 
the better v.'ay of proceeding, a few general hints will be given 
of methods with different fruits. 

Apples. — There seems little use of drying apples unless a 
very light-colored, handsome product can be turned out. This 
can be done by sulphuring as soon as cut, and sun drying in a 
dry region, or by the use of a machine evaporator in regions of 
greater atmospheric humidity. Recently the product has largely 
increased. 

Apricots. — Apricots for drying should be fully ripe but not 
soft enough to be mushy. By the use of sulphur and sun heat, 
an amber-colored, semitranslucent fruit is obtained. The pre- 
vailing method of gathering is to shake down the fruit upon 
sheets, but the best product is hand picked. Pit the fruit by a 
clean cut completely around in the suture; do not cut part way 
round and then tear apart — a clean-cut edge is essential. Put on 
the trays w^ith the skin down, or with the cup up, as it is some- 
times described; sulphur, and then put in the sun. About three 
days of interior-valley sunshine will finish the apricots. Apri- 
cots will yield on the average one pound of dried fruit to five 
pounds of fresh. 

Berries and Cherries. — These fruits are only dried in the sun 
in small quantities for local sale, and ordinary farm-house meth- 
ods are employed. 



428 Dried Figs and Pears. 

Figs. — The fruit may be carefully picked from the tree so 
as to secure the whole of the stem, when the fruit is fully ripe, as 
is known by the seaming or slight shriveling of the skin. In 
drying the common black fig from large trees, however, the 
fruit is generally gathered from the ground, which is cleaned 
and smoothed before the crop ripens. In drying black figs the 
fruit is placed on trays and in most cases exposed to the sun, 
but some foot-hill growers maintam the advantage of drying in 
the shade. ,The figs should not be allowed to dry hard. When 
sufficiently cured, put in swtat-boxes for several days, and when 
ready to pack dip in boiling salt water, or, as is the practise of 
some producers, dip in a thin syrup, boiling hot. In either 
method a good, pliable condition and handsome color are ob- 
tained. In drying white figs many sulphur the fruit from fift en 
minutes to an hour before putting out on the trays. Figs which 
dry slowly have to be turned several times during the drying, 
and those which are apt to run juice are placed so that the eye 
is raised a little until the juice is thickened. The white figs are 
also put in sweat-boxes and dipped in hot salt water before 
packing. In packing, the figs are often flattened and drawn 
out by the hand. Such manipulation gives the fig a lig-hter and 
more translucent appearance. The time required in drying figs 
is usually from five to eight or ten days, according to location 
and weather. The fruit does not cure evenly, and those which 
are finished (as determined by sight and touch — to be learned by 
experience) are picked from the trays, and others given more 
time. 

Pears. — The dried pear product is increasing, and, as with 
apples, only a light-colored product is profitable. These are 
made by sulphuring and sun drying, or by the use of the ma- 
chine drier. For sun drying the fruit of medium size is halved, 
the large fruit being quartered. 

Peaches. — Peaches are sun dried in much the same way as 
apricots, already described. Take the fruit when it is fully ripe, 
but not mushy; cut cleanly all around to extract the pit and put 
on trays cup side up; get into- the sulphur box as soon as pos- 
sible after cutting. Peaches are dried both peeled and un- 
peeled, but drying without peeling is chiefly done. Peeling is 
done with the small paring machines or with a knife. Peeling 
with lye has been generally abandoned because of discoloration 
of the fruit after packing. 

Clingstone peaches are cut with a knife invented by G. W. 
Tarlton, of San Jose. It consists of the blade of any common 
knife (like a shoe-knife), with a short U-shaped blade set in at 
the point of the main blade. In cutting the peach in halves, 



Drying Peaches. 429 

the curved blade skims around the stone, completely severing it 
from the peach. This device has enabled the grower to pit 
clings as easily as freestones, but owing to the strength required 
in the wrist, the pitting of clings can best be done by men. The 
Tarlton knife works admirably, both with mellow and quite firm 
fruit, and is, therefore, vastly superior to the spoon-shaped knife, 
which can only be used on soft fruit. A strong, active man can 
pil five hundred to seven hundred pounds of clings in a day. 




The Tarlton Knife for Pitting Clingstone Peaches. 

The weight of dried peaches which can be obtained from a 
certain weight of fresh fruit, depends upon the variety; some 
varieties yield at least a third more than others, and clings yield 
more than freestones as a rule. Dry-lleshed peaches, like the 
Muir, yield one pound dry from four or five pounds fresh, while 
other more juicy fruit may require six or seven pounds. 

Nectarines. — Nectarines are handled like peaches; the pro- 
duction of translucent amber fruit in the sun depends upon the 
skilful use of sulphur. 

Plums and Prunes. — Our pitted plums, which are an acid 
fruit, are meeting with more favor than formerly, and the product 
is increasing. Pitting is done by hand or by the use of foot- 
power "'pitters." More rapid and capacious machines are being 
brought out by inventors. 

Prunes are one of our greatest and most promising prod- 
ucts. Several varieties which dry sweet with the pit in are used 
in making prunes, as already stated in Chapter XXII, but the 
prevailing variety is the Prune d' Agen. 

Prunes are gathered by shaking from the trees, usually 
upon sheets spread beneath. Several gatherings are made by 
light shakings which cause only the ripe specimens to fall. 

Prunes are usually graded before drying, and various home- 
made contrivances are employed. Some use inclined planes of 
adjustable slats, the grader being thus available for other fruits 
than prunes; the large fruit rolls along into receptacles at the bot- 
tom, while the small fruit falls through into other receptacles. 
Other grading devices are made with wire screens or riddles of 
different sizes of mesh. Some of them work on the principle of a 
fanning mill, three to four riddles, placed above one another, 
each with a slight incline, and a spout on the side where each 
grade drops into a box. Some have a long riddle, say twelve feet 
long, with three different sizes of wire screen on it. This riddle 



430 Curing Prunes. 

is hung upon four ropes with an incHne; the prunes are thrown 
in the higher end, and by shai<ing it they roll down and fall 
through the holes into boxes underneath. The first piece of 
screen should be small, to let only stems and dirt through, and 
no prunes. This long hanging screen is also used to grade 
prunes after drying. There are now several excellent manufac- 
tured fruit graders on sale in this State. Their work is very sat- 
isfactory, and they have largely displaced home-made contriv- 
ances. 

The next step in the process is dipping in lye to thin and 
crack the skin, which facilitates the escape of moisture in the 
drying process. In a large caldron lye is made with one pound 
of concentrated lye to each twenty gallons of water, and kept 
boiling hot. The fruit is put into wire baskets or galvanized 
pails with perforated sides and bottoms, and dipped in the boil- 
ing lye for about a minute, or until the skin has a wrinkled 
appearance, then the basket is plunged into- clean cold water to 
rinse ofif the lye. This rinsing water must be frequently changed, 
for it soon becomes very alkaline. Some begin with a stronger 
lye solution, one pound to ten gallons of water, claiming that a 
very short dip in stronger lye is better than longer exposure in 
a weaker solution. After this dipping, the prunes are placed 
on trays. In the sun the prune dries sufficiently in from one to 
two weeks, according to the situation and weather. 

A process of puncturing the skin of the prunes by causing 
them to roll over needle points has also been employed to some 
extent. There a.re now manufactured very capacious appliances 
for continuous dipping, rinsing, puncturing and spreading on the 
trays so that the fruit is handled in large quantities at a mini- 
mum cost. In no branch of our fruit industry perhaps has there 
been greater advance in labor-saving devices than in prune 
handling. 

When sufliciently dried, the prunes are put through the 
"sweat," which takes from several days to two or there weeks, 
and then are ready for grading, finishing, and packing. In grad- 
ing, the prunes are separated by the use of a grader, as already 
described, into a number of grades, the largest, forty prunes to 
the pound, and so on, fifty, sixty, etc., to the smallest, which may 
run one hundred or more to the pound. Finishing consists in 
exposing to steam, in dipping in clear hot water, or hot sugar 
syrup, or in dipping in boiled juice of ripe prunes, or peaches or 
apples, etc. Although there is a great variety of materials used 
for "glossing" prunes by dififerent producers, the prevailing prac- 
tise is to rely upon hot water, to which pure glycerine is added 
at the rate of one pound to twenty gallons. Some growers also 
add a little brine (having first dissolved the salt and skimmed 



Curing Raisins. 431 

off the impurities). This final hot dip kills insect eggs, and the 
fruit, after drying off away from the access of insects, should be 
packed tightly in boxes. 

Raisins. — The varieties of grapes used for raisins are de- 
scribed in Chapter XXVI. The production of raisins has 
reached such an extent, and employs so much skill and capital, 
that the processes employed to facilitate the curing and packing 
are so various that a description of them can not be attempted. 
Besides, there is now available an excellent special treatise on 
this subject.* However, in beginning the commercial production 
of raisins, one should visit the raisin farms and packing-houses 
during the harvest. The following description by T. JC. White, 
of Fresno, gives an outline of practise in the vineyard: — 

In Fresno picking commences about the first of September, although 
there have been seasons when it occurred as early as the 20th of August. 
The grapes under no circumstances should be picked for raisins until 
they are ripe. There are three ways by which to ascertain this fact: 
First, by the color, which should be a light amber; second, by the taste; 
and third, by the saccharometer, which is by far the most accurate. A 
grape may be ripe, and not have the proper color, when grown entirely 
in the shade. The juice of the grape should contain at least twenty- 
five per cent saccharine, to produce a good raisin. 

The method of drying is with trays placed upon the ground The 
almost entire absence of dew in our locality greatly facilitates this 
method. The trays are usually twenty-four by thirty-six inches, which 
hold about twenty pounds of fruit, and should produce from six to 
seven pounds of raisins. The product of a vineyard depends largely 
upon its age and favorable conditions, varying from two to nine tons 
of grapes per acre. 

The trays are distributed along the sides of the roads, from which 
they are taken by the pickers as they are needed. As the grapes are 
picked from the vines, all imperfect berries, sticks, and dead leaves are 
removed from the bunches, which are then placed upon the trays, right 
side up. A cluster has what is called a right and a wrong side, the wrong 
side having more of the stems exposed than the right side. Great care 
should be used in picking, so as to handle the branches only by the 
stem. If the berries come in contact with the hands, some of the bloom 
will be removed, wdiich will injure the appearance of the raisins. The 
trays are placed, after filling, between the vines, one end being elevated 
so that the grapes may receive the m.ore direct rays of the sun. 

Too rapid drying is not desirable. The grapes are left upon the 
trays until about two-thirds dry, which, with us, will be in from six to 
eight days. They are then turned. This is accomplished by placing 
an empty tray on top of the one filled with partially-dried raisins, and 
turning them both over. Then take off the upper or original tray, and 
you have the raisins turned without handling or damage. After turn- 
ing, curing will proceed more rapidly, and frequently is completed in 
four or five days. During this time they should be carefully watched 
to prevent any from becoming too dry. When it is found they are dry 
enough, the trays are gathered and stacked one upon another as high 
as convenient for the sorting which follows. This protects them from 
the sun and prevents overdrying. .Stacking should be attended to early 



• " The Raisin Industry," by Dr. Gustav Eisen, large 8vo., 255 pp., fully illustrated. 



432 Curing Raisins. 

in the morning, while the stems and berries are slightly moist and cool 
from the night air, as they will retain this moisture after being trans- 
ferred to the sweat-boxes, and assist in quickening the sweating process. 

As the raisins are taken ofif the trays, some of the berries on the 
bunches will be dry enough and a few will not be sufficiently cured. 
To remove the moist ones would destroy the appearance of the cluster, 
and to leave it out longer would shrivel the dry ones, hence the sweat- 
box. The moisture is diffused through the box. some being absorbed 
by the dry raisins, and the stems also taking their share are thus ren- 
dered tough and pliable and easily manipulated when ready for packing. 

Sorting and grading require care and judgment, and although a 
tedious process, it greatly facilitates rapid packing. The sweat-box is 
a little larger than the tray and about eight inches deep, and contains 
about one hundred and twenty-five pounds of raisins. Heavy manila 
paper is u»ed in the sweat-boxes, one sheet being placed in the bottom, 
and three or four more at equal distances as the filling progresses. 
The object of the paper is to prevent the tangling of the stems and con- 
sequent breaking of the bunches when removed for packing. 

The sorters have three sweat-boxes, one for the first, second, and 
third qualities, as the grade will justify. The bunches should be han- 
dled by the stem and placed carefully in the sweat-boxes to avoid break- 
ing the stems, thereby destroying the symmetry ot the clusters. Any 
found to be too damp are returned to the trays and left a day or two 
longer in the sun. To ascertain if the fruit is perfectly cured, take a 
raisin between the thumb and forefinger and roll it gently until softened, 
when either jelly or water will exude from the stem end — if water, it 
requires further drying. When the boxes are filled, they are taken to 
the equalizer. This should be built of brick or adobe, and as near air- 
tight as possible, but provided with windows to allow ventilation when 
necessary. The windows should have shutters to keep it dark. The 
filled boxes are placed one exactly upon another to a convenient height, 
and should remain from ten to twenty days or more, when they will 
have passed through the sweating process. When the raisins are suffi- 
ciently equalized, the sweat-boxes are removed to the packing-room, 
which is provided with tables, presses, scales, etc. 

The foregoing relates to the preparation of the standard 
clusters. Loose raisins are now being produced in increasing 
quantities. Loose Muscatels are prepared by being put through 
the stemnier and grader. The stcmrner removes the berries from 
the stems, and the grader, by separating according to size, de- 
termines the grade. During the last few years the seeding of 
raisins has increased rapidly, and large establishments for this 
work, with very ingenious machinery, have been erected. 
Seeded raisins promise to constitute a considerable portion of 
the product. 

A considerable quantity of dipped raisins are also made of 
the Sultana grape and of loose or inferior Muscatels. A lye dip 
of about one pound of potash to twelve gallons of water is used, 
and the solution is kept boiling hot. The ripe fruit is dipped 
for an instant, then plunged in fresh water for a thorough rinsing, 
and then placed on the trays. During warm, dry weather in 
the interior, the raisins are dried in the shade by leaving the 



Dipping Raisins. 433 

trays in piks, but if cooler, moister weather prevails, the trays 
must be spread out. The product is a handsome amber color. 

An oil-dip is also being- profitably used with Thompson's 
Seedless: — 

One quart olive oil; Va pound Greenbank soda and 3 quarts 
water are made into an emulsion, and then reduced with 10 
gallons water in the dipping tank, adding more soda to get lye- 
strength enough to cut the skins, and more soda has to be 
added from time to time to keep up the strength. The grapes 
are dipped in this solution and sulphured to the proper color. 

Drying of wine grapes for sale at the East or in Europe is 
practised. They can be profitably produced at quite a low price, 
in much the same way that raisins are made but with less care. 

GRAPE SYRUP. 

The manufacture of grape s\rup, which was formerly of con- 
siderable prominence as a means of disposing of wine grapes, 
has recently received less attention because of low prices in com- 
petition with the vast amount of syrup available from the sugar 
refineries. As the source of sugar is now so largely the beet, 
grape syrup may again be profitable in the future. Open evap- 
orating pans are chiefly used. 



PART NINTH: FRUIT PROTECTION, 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

INJURIOUS INSECTS. 

The California climate, which so favors tree and plant by a 
long, mild growing season, also enables some insects to multi- 
ply much more rapidly than they do in wintry climes, some 
having several distinct broods, others carrying on the work of 
reproduction and destruction of plants nearly the year round. 
If, however, as now seems likely, a good part of the repression 
of injurious insects may be trusted to other insects, parasitic or 
predatory, the climate will favor the multiplication of friend as 
well as foe, and thus carry its own compensation. This result 
has been promoted by the introduction of beneficial insects 
from other parts of the world. It is also a fact that California 
fruit growers have invented methods and appliances for re- 
pression of injurious insects which have demonstrated notable 
efficiency and value. 

In order to arrange injurious insects in classes in a popular 
way, the grouping will be based upon the character of the work 
they do, an arrangement which has been followed by other 
writers, and which is better than attempting to group the insects 
which prey upon any single tree or plant, because injurious in- 
sects seldom restrict themselves to a single food plant. There- 
fore the grouping will be as follows: (i) Insects destroying foli- 
age; (2) insects upon the bark or upon the surface of leaf and 
fruit; (3) insects boring into the twig, stem, or root; (4) insects 
boring into the piflp of fruits. 

The literature upon the subject of insect pests in California 
is quite extensive, but much of it is beyond the reach of the 
general reader. There are, however, a number of publications 
which should be on the shelves of every fruit grower, and these 
are the bulletins and reports of the experiment stations of the 
Ut\iversity of California, at Berkeley; of the State Board of 
Horticulture, at Sacramento : and of the Division of Entomology, 
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, at Washington. The 

(434) 



Ctit Worms and Canker Worms. 435 

study of the pests and the invention of means for their destruc- 
tion are, however, continually progressing, and one can only 
keep himself informed of this progress, and profit by improve- 
ments, by diligent reading of California periodicals devoted 
to practical horticulture. 

INSECTS DESTROYING FOLIAGE. 

Army Worms. — Smooth caterpillars about an inch or more 
in length when fully grown; prevailing color black, with light- 
colored stripes on the sides; moving forward in large bodies, 
hence the name; six forward legs; eight central legs; two rear 
legs; usually most destructive to grass and grain, but invade 
vineyards and orchards. Most available remedy is spraying the 
leaves with Paris green, one pound to two hundred gallons of 
water on most growth but not stronger than one pound to two 
hundred and fifty gallons on peach trees. The progress of the 
worms can be temporarily arrested by plowing furrows in dry 
g^-ound outside the planted area and treatment of them by burn- 
ing or crushing outside this barricade. 

Cut Worms. — Smooth, plump, dull-colored caterpillars de- 
stroying buds and leaves at night and hiding by day in loose dirt 
at the base of the plant. Remedy: Paris green as above, or used 
upon bunches of alfalfa or other vegetation placed at the base 
of the plant as a trap, or uncovering and collecting the worms, 
or using the bran and arsenic remedy which will be mentioned 
later for grasshoppers. 

Canker Worms. — Slim caterpillars of different colors, mov- 
ing by a looping gait, and often completely defoliating trees 
very early in the season. Remedy: Paris green spray, and 



Canker-worm Moths; a Male, b Female. 

banding of the trees with paper on wliich is spread a mixture of 
printers' ink and molasses, to prevent the wingless moth from 
ascending the trees to deposit eggs on the twigs. ' In this mild 
climate these bands must be put on in December and main- 
tained through the winter. The use of a trap has largely super- 
seded these bands as follows: Take No, 16 or 14 wire cloth in 
strips six inches wide, draw and tack the top edge close to the 
trunk of the tree over a bandage of cloth two inches or less wide 
which is put on first to make the joint tight. The lower edge 




436 



IVed or Tent Caterpillars. 



flares out half an inch or more from the tree all around. This 
will prevent the moths getting up, and will need cleaning aSout 
once a week for four weeks or more. Probably not one trap 
in ten will need touching. 

Tent Caterpillars. — Several species of hairy caterpillars called 
"tent caterpillars/' or "web worms," from their spinning covers 
of cobweb-like material, under which they take shelter in large 
colonies; but one, at least, of the group does not spin a web, 
though it lives in clusters on the tree. The worms can be killed 
by cutting off and burning the twig holding the cluster or by 
burning the colonies in place with a torch on the end of a pole, 







Larvse, Pupae and Moth of Web Worm. 



or by spraying the foliage with Paris green. The pest can be 
reduced by carefully collecting and burning the egg clusters 
while pruning. The egg cluster encircles the twig, as shown in 
the adjacent engraving. 




Reel-Humped Caterpillar. — Striped caterpillars, not hairy, 
but liaving two rows of black spines along the back, also living 
in clusters; of reddish color with yellow and white lines; a short 
distance back of the red head of the caterpillar is a red hump on 
which are four black spines; black spines are also- scattered over 
the body, but smaller than those on the back. Spray with Paris 
green, or cut oft" and burn colonies. 



The Tussock Moth. 



437 



Caterpillar of Tussock Moth. — A conspicuous caterpillar with 
four short, brush-like tufts on its back, and two long, black 
plumes at the front, and one at the rear of the body — see en- 
graving. This leaf-eater is found on apple, pear, plum, and 
.sometimes on other fruit trees, also on the walnut and oak. The 
caterpillars can be killed with a Paris green spray. The larva 
spins a cocoon sometimes in the fold of a leaf, more commonly 
in crotches or rough places on the bark, or even on adjacent 
buildings or fences, and the female, after emerging from the 




Cocoon, Moth and Eggs of Tent Caterpillar. 

cocoon, deposits her eggs upon the outside of it. The engrav- 
ing below shows the wingless moth and cocoon with the mass 
of eggs deposited upon it. The insect is fortunately very freely 
parasitized and prevented from wide injury. It can be reduced 
by destroying the egg-masses during pruning, as they are wliite 
and very conspicuous. 




1 



$\ 




Tussock-moth Larva, Wingless Female and Cocoon with Eggs. 

Feaj' and Cherry Shg. — A small, slimy, dark-colored worm, 
with the fore part of the body notably larger than the rear part, 
eating the upper surface of the leaves but usually not making 
holes through them. The insect can be checked by throwing 
fine road dust or air-slacked lime over the tree, which cakes 
upon the slime of the worm and destroys it. On a large scale a 
Paris green spray is best. 



438 



Saw-Fly Slugs and lVo?'ms. 



Sazv-Fly Worms. — There are several larvae of saw-flies 
which do, much injury to pear trees, currants, etc., by eating the 
whole leaf substance except the larger ribs. The worms are 
small, not slimy like the pear slug, the one infesting the pear 




The Pear and Cherry Slug (a) and Saw-fly Worm. 



being about half an inch when fully grown. Its general appear- 
ance and work are shown by the engraving. The most avail- 
able remedy is a Paris green spray. 

Large Caterpillars on Grape-vines. — The grape-vine is often 
seriously injured by the attacks of very large leaf-eating worms 
two inches and upwards in length, sometimes with a large horn, 




Sphiiix-nioth Larva on Grape»vines. 

or spine, sometimes without. They are larvae of several species 
of Sphinx moths or humming-bird moths, and of swallow-tail 
butterflies (papilio). The worms can be killed by Paris green 



Leaf Lice and Thrips. 



439 



spray or by hand-picking. The numbers of worms can be re- 
duced by killing the large moths, which are abundant at night- 




Caterpillar of Swallow-tail Butterfly. 

fall on beds of verbenas, or other garden flowers. These worms 
are related to other large caterpillars which feed on tobacco, 
tomatoes, etc. 

Leaf-Eating Beetles. — There are many beetles, large and 
small, which infest grape leaves. They can all be reduced by 
the use of Paris green, or those which drop to the ground when 
disturbed may be collected in large numbers on sheets spread 
below. 

INSECTS UPON BARK OR SURFACE OF LEAVES OR FRUIT. 

Leaf Lice. — Leaves of fruit trees, especially the apple anl 
plum, are sometimes almost covered with lice or aphides of dif- 
ferent colors, from light green to black, some individuals having 
wings and some wingless. Available remedies for all these leaf 
lice are the resin wash and the kerosene emulsions which will 
be given later as summer washes for scale insects, with a spray 
nozzle which sends spray upwards, so as to reach the under sides 
of the leaves. Very often these pests are efifectually cleared out 
by lady-birds and other insects which devour them. The en- 
graving shows the general form of the aphis tribe. 




The Aphis or Leaf Louse. 



Thrips. — Very minute insects infesting leaves of pear, 
causing them to wither and fall oft' — the leaves usually being 
covered with black dots. Remedies the same as for leaf lice. 

Vine Hoppers. — Very minute, yellowish, jumping insects 
infesting grape-vines very early in the season, and multiplying 



440 Red Spider and Other Mites. 

rapidly. They exhaust the sap from the leaves, causing them to 
turn yellow and fall, exposing" the grapes to sunburn. There 
are two kinds of vine hoppers. One in the Fresno region rises 
in a cloud when the vine is disturbed; the one at Florin, and at 
some points near the coast, drops to the ground. There is yet 
no satisfactory way to catch the insects that rise intO' the air. 
The ones that drop to the ground are handled quite satisfactorily 
by using wide, shallow pans in which half an inch of water with 
a little kerosene oil is put. These pans are made half round on 
a circle about a yard in diameter. Two men take pans and both 
come up to the vine quickly from opposite sides and push the 
pans under it. Thus the two pans largely cover the ground 
under the vines and the bugs drop into the kerosene. Some 
growers have saved their crops in this way. Treatment should 
begin early in the season, before the vines run out so- far that 
it becomes so difficult to drop the iioppers in the pans. 

False Chinch-Bugs. — Small, grayish-brown insects (about 
one-eighth of an inch long when fully grown), which injure the 
vine leaves. They drop to the ground when the vine is dis- 
turbed, and may be caught as just described for vine hoppers. 

Grasshoppers. — These pests often invade orchard and vine- 
yard, and sometimes kill the plants outright by completely de- 
foliating them. This plague has been successfully met by the 
use of the arsenic and bran remedy, prepared as follows: Forty 
pounds of bran, fifteen pounds middlings, two gallons of cheap 
syrup, twenty pounds arsenic, mixed soft with water; a table- 
spoonful thrown by the side of each vine or tree. Cost per 
acre for trees, twenty-five cents; for vines, fifty cents. If placed 
on shingles about the vineyard, nmch of the poison not eaten 
may be afterward gathered up and saved. Complete success 
has resulted from the use of this remedy, as the grasshoppers 
eat it readily and die in their tracks.* 

Red Spider and Other Miles. — Very minute insects, usually 
discernible only with the aid of a magnifier, sometimes destroy 
the leaves, causing them to lose their color and health by their 
inroads upon the leaf surface. The red spider and yellow mite 
are conspicuous examples; they infest nearly all orchard trees, 
especially the almond, prune, and plum. The eggs of the red 
spider are ruby- red globules, as seen with the magnifier, and 
are deposited in vast numbers upon the bark of the tree, and 
leave a red color upon the finger if it is rubbed over them. The 
eggs are very hard to kill, and treatment is most effective 
when applied in the spring and summer after the mites 
are hatched out. The popular remedy is a thorough dust- 

* For the protection of nurseries, orchards, and vineyards it is often necessary to resort 
to various devices for excluding the grasshopper, or for destroying them upon adjoining 
fields. Publications describing such devices may be had free by addressing the Secretary of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



The Woolly Aphis. 



441 



ing of the trees with sulphur, after spraying with cold 
water. On a large scale the sulphur is applied in a cloud by 
means of a modification of the broad-cast barley sower. On 
a small scale it may be applied with a bellows as for grape-vines, 
or shaken from a cheese-cloth bag at the end of a pole. Some 
growers prefer a spray to sulphuring, and the following, recom- 
mended hy G. P. Hall, of San Diego-, is very cheap and satis- 
factory: Take 20 pounds of sulphur, mix it to a paste — not 
sloppy — with cold water, in a barrel; then add to this wet sul- 




^^3^=*' 





Red Spider: Young and Mature, Highly Magnified. 

phur 10 pounds of caustic soda 98 per cent, and it will boil the 
sulphur just like lime slaking; have 20 gallons of water to add 
to it as it boils to prevent its burning. This is a stock solu- 
tion, and when ready to spray put 40 gallons of water in another 
barrel, and take one-half gallon of the stock solution and add to 
it, straining it to prevent sediment from getting into the spray. 
Phylloxera. — This pest of the grape-vine is closely allied to 
the aphides, and lives both upon the root and leaf, though in 
this State the root type prevails and the leaf form is seldom 




Woolly Aphis and Injured Roots. 

seen. No remedy has yet been found effectual, but escape is 
had by using roots resisting the insects, as described in Chapter 
XXIV. The insects are recognized, by the aid of a magnifier, 
as minute yellow lice, chiefly on the rootlets. 



29 



442 Scale Insects. 

The Woolly Aphis. — A louse of dark red color, occurring in 
groups, covered with a woolly substance which exudes from 
the bodies of the insects. In the engraving, a is the gall or 
swelling produced on the rootlets by their presence; b is the 
insect, showing the outgrowth of woolly matter; c is the winged 
female. The woolly aphis is an almost universal pest of the 
apple, though as shown by experience, some varieties are prac- 
tically exempt from it. As the pest lives both upon root and 
top, its annihilation is impossible, but it may be reduced so that 
the fruitfulness and vigor of the tree are not impaired. The use 
of wood ashes around the tree close to the trunk has been bene- 
ticial. Removing the earth from the root-crown and applying 
from two to five pounds of tobacco dust — a refuse from cigar 
factories — destroys ' the insects at this point and prolongs the 
effective life of the tree. The insect on the branches and twigs 
can be reduced by spraying with the summer washes soon to 
be given for scale insects, or the clusters of the insect can be 
touched with a swab dipped in kerosene, but the kerosene should 
not be allowed to spread upon the bark. Ladybirds often clear 
away the woolly aphis of the tree above ground. 

Much attention is now being given to trial of resistant roots 
and it is likely that such roots will be generally used here as 
in Australia. 

Scale Insects. — This is a large group of pests which occa- 
sion greater loss and trouble to our fruit growers than all other 
pests combined. There are many species, and no orchard tree 
is exempt from the attacks of one or more of them, though some 
trees are apparently more popular with the pests than others. 
The fruit grower should study their life history and classification 
as laid down in the works on entomology. It will only be possi- 
ble in this connection to introduce a few engravings, by which 
some of the most prominent pests can be recognized, and to 
give some of the remedies which are now being most success- 
fully employed against them. 

San Jose Scale (Aspidiolus perniciosus). — This was formerly 
one of the worst and most widespread of the species of scales 
preying on deciduous fruit trees in California, but at present, 
owing to friendly insects which prey upon it, has become of 
minor importance, and, in fact, has practically disappeared from 
some regions where it was formerly most injurious. The work 
of this species is generally readily distinguished from other spe- 
cies of scale by the red blotches which are formed wherever it 
stings any part of the tree — either branch, leaf, or fruit. These 
red blotches are more pronounced in some varieties than in 
others. When the scales are present in large numbers, it causes 
a complete discoloration of the bark clear to the sap-wood. 



Sa7i Jose and Greedy Scales. 



443 



This scale has its preference among the deciduous fruits. The 
apricot is apparently proof against it; certain varieties of cher- 
ries and plums are but little afifected. The engravings show a 
pear afifected by the scale; also the insect, natural size, on a twig; 





San Jose Scale on Fruit and Twig. Young Scale and Mature Female. 

also the form of the young, and the mature female, found by lift- 
ing the scale, the color of the insects being lemon yellow. The 
scale of the female is about one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter, 
with a yellowish center, and gray or black margin. 

The Greedy or Pear Scale {Aspidiotns rapax). — This species 
affects many kinds of trees, deciduous as well as evergreens. 
Scale, about one-sixteenth of an inch in length; form, ovoid; 
color, drab ; female, bright yellow. This insect is found in many 
places along the coast. It infests, chiefly, pear trees, hence its 





^■i# 



Pear Scale on Twig, and Mature Female. 



name. It is distinguishable easily fro^m the Aspidiotus perni- 
ciosus by its whitish-yellow color, contrasting with the dark color 
of the latter. Generally this scale has only one brood in the sea- 
son, and, as compared with the San Jose scale, it is of little 
danger, owing to its slow- breeding propensities. 



444 Various Scale Insects. 

Oyster Shell Scale of Apple {Mytilaspis pomonim). — This is 
one of the few insects which tlie northeastern States have in 
common with us. Like the preceding one, it has only one 
brood during the season. It affects the apple chiefly, although 
sometimes the pear also. Owing to the thickness of the armor, 




Oyster Shell Scale. 

it is one of the most dif^cult of the scales to exterminate. It 
can be easily recognized by the engraving, which shows a piece 
of bark covered with it. 

Rose and Berry Scale (Diaspis rosae). — This scale has such 
striking forms that it can be readily recognized. The round 
white scale is that of the female, the elongated one with ridges is 
the male. The rose scale infests, besides roses, various fruit 
bushes, especially blackberries and raspberries. Remedy: For 
raspberries and blackberries the cutting down of the canes to the 
ground should be adopted, and the stumps sprayed or washed 
with kerosene emulsion, recommended under the head of gen- 
eral remedies for scale insects. 

Oleander Scale (Aspidwtus nerii). — This scale is small, flat, 
yellowish-white. It aftects a great many trees, especially ever- 
greens. Lemon trees become badly affected, and the fruit is 
sometimes completely covered. The olive is also subject, and 
the fruit of the olive when infested does not mature well, and 
wherever a scale is found, a green blotch shows its appearance. 

Red Scale of Orange and Lemon (Aonidia aurantii). — This 
scale afifects citrus trees in both the coast and interior regions. 
The scale fully grown is one-twelfth of an inch or a little more 
in diameter, center yellow, margin light brown. The apearance 
of trees infested with this pest is very striking, very much resem- 
bling those diseased from other causes, such as bad drainage, 
the leaf presenting a mottled appearance, a light blotch around 
the scale contrasting with the natural green of the leaf. The 
branches are but little troubled, but the fruit, like the leaf, be- 
comes completely covered with the msects. An orange tree 
infested with this scale gradually becomes sickly and languishes. 

Other Citrus Tree Scales. — Two scales more recently 
brought intoi this State frorn Florida are the "purple scale," 
Aspidiotus citricola, and the "long scale," Aspidiotus gloverii. 
The red and purple scales of citrus trees are only treated suc- 
cessfully by fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas. This treat- 
ment is an elaborate one, requiring special appliances which are 
fully illustrated and described in Bulletin 122, which can be had 



The Lecanium Scales. 



445 



free by application to the Agricultural Experiment Station at 
Berkeley. 

The Black Scale {Lecanium oleae). — This scale is almost a 
universal pest, especially in regions adjacent to the coast, though 
it has recently demonstrated its ability to endure interior valley 
conditions. It affects citrus fruit trees and some deciduous trees 
as well, and a fungus growing on its exudation causes the black 
smut, which renders tree and fruit unsightly; but this smut ac- 
companies other scale insects as well as this one. It is especially 
troublesome on the olive, and will quickly spread to ornamental 
plants and vines in the garden. It is a very difficult scale to 
subdue. On citrus trees the fumigation method is the only 
practical recourse. On deciduous fruits it requires both winter 
and summer spraying to hold it in check. In spite of the fact 
that immense numbers are killed by parasites, and perhaps by 
fungi as well, it is still a grievous pest, and should be fought 
unceasingly. 

Soft Orange Scale {Lecanium Hesperidum). — This scale is a 
pest of citrus trees the world over. The scale is ovoid, a little 
wider at one end than the other; length, from one-twelfth to 
one-seventh of an inch; color, dark brown on convex part, and 
a lighter brown surrounding margin; it has two indentations on 
each side, and one on posterior end. The engraving does not 
bring out these characters well, but shows the way in which the 
scale is seen on the leaf. It fortunately is usually held in check 
by natural agencies. 

Brown Apricot Scale. — The apricot tree, though defying the 
most ruinous scales of some other trees, is beset by scales of the 
lecanium family. The black scale is one and the brown apricot 




Brown Apricot Scale of Deciduous Fruit Trees. 

scale anotlier It is Lecanium- Armeniacum. This scale is boat- 
shaped; when reaching maturity, wrinkled; the color is a shiny 
brown, darker in the center, lighter at the edges. A full-sized 



Black Scale {Lecanium oIcce). 




Soft Orange Scale (/,. hesperiduni) 



Cherry Scale (Z,. insignicola). 





Frosty Scale {L. pruniosufn). Filbert Scale {L. heniisfiha-ncitw). 

GROUP OF LECANIUM SCALES FROM THE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION. 



Mealy Bugs. 



447 



scale has a length of a quarter of an inch, and a width of one- 
eighth of an inch. This scale attacks nearly all kinds of decid- 
uous fruits, but especially the prune and apricot. It is a very 
hardy scale, and the remarks about the black scale apply to it 
also. 

Ot]icr Lecaniinns.— -There are several otlier iecanimns on fruit 
trees: The filbert scale (heniisphericum), which is common in 
greenhouses and occurs to limited extent on citrus trees; the 
frosted scale ipruinosiim). very large, oval and convex, cov- 
ered with dense, whitish bloojn, occurs on deciduous fruit trees. 

Cottony Cushion Scale or Fluted Scale {Icerya purchasi). — This 
promised at one time to be the most grievous of all scales in its 
rapid increase and wide range of food plants, but it was speedily 
reduced by an Australian ladybird, Novius (Vcdalia) cardinalis, 
introduced by Albert Koebele. with such success that specimens 
are now rarely seen. 

Mealy Bugs. — Closely allied to the scales are the mealy bugs 
(species of dactylopius), soft and of a pale pink color, generally 
covered with a whitish mealy powder, hence the name. The 
common species is found in nearly every greenhouse in the 





Mealy Bugs, Chiefly upon Citrus Trees. 

world, and in California climate lives in the open air on many 
kinds of plants, and has at various times proved quite trouble- 
some. Unless checked by natui-al enemies, the m.ealy bugs mul- 
tiply very rapidly, and mass themselves in the corners of the 
leaves. The plants turn black from the fungus growth growing 
on the honeydew, and the bush presents the same appearance as 
a scale-infested plant. With the aid of a magnifier the appear- 
ance of the mealy bugs, as shown in the engraving, can be read- 
ily recognized. 

Remedies for Scale Insects. — Though most of the scale in- 
sects are attacked by parasitic and predacious insects, as already 
stated, these natural agencies have only in certain cases proved 
rapid enough to cope with the increase of the scales, and in- 
secticides have to be employed to save the fruit and trees. There 
is a vast number of these washes, many of which will do good 



448 Remedies for Scale Insects. 

work if thoroughly applied, which is usually the secret of suc- 
cess. A few which have proved of special value will be given 
herewith : — 

A WINTER WASH FOR DECIDUOUS TREES WHEN LEAFLESS. 

Lime, Salt and Sulphur Remedy. — The following^ formula has been 
used with great success throughout the State: Forty pounds of un- 
slaked lime, twenty pounds of sulphur, fifteen pounds conmion stock salt, 
water to make sixty gallons. Boil ten pounds of lime and the twenty 
pounds of sulphur in twenty gallons of water for an hour and a half, or 
until both lime and sulphur are dissolved. The sulphur nnist be thor- 
oughly dissolved and mixed with the lime: the mixture will then be of 
an amber color. Then slake in an empty half-barrel thirty pounds of 
lime with soft hot water, using enough water to thoroughly slake the 
lime, and while it is boiling add fifteen pounds of common stock salt. 
When the salt is well dissolved, add the contents of the half-barrel to 
the hot mixture in the boiler and boil the whole for half an hour and 
add water enough to make a total of sixty gallons of spraying material, 
which will then be a thin whitewash. The material should be strained, 
after being thoroughly mixed, through a fine wire strainer. Apply the 
wash milk-warm or warmer, with a spray pump. Use only when foli- 
age is off the tree. 

WASHES FOR ALL TREES WHEN IN LEAF. 

Kerosene Emulsion. — Take kerosene, two gallons; common soap, or 
whale-oil soap, one-half pound; water, one gallon. Dissolve the soap 
in the water and add it boiling hot to the kerosene. Churn the mix- 
ture by means of a force pump and spray nozzle for five or ten minutes. 
The emulsion, if perfect, forms a cream which thickens on cooling. 
Dilute before using, one part of the emulsion with nine parts of cold 
water. To obtain this emulsion in proper form violent agitation is 
necessary, the time required depending on the violence of the agita- 
tion and temperature of the mixture. Professor Cook's formula is this: 
"Dissolve in two quarts of water one-fourth pound of hard soap by 
heating to the boiling point, then add one pint of kerosene oil and stir 
violently from three to five minutes." This is best done by use of the 
force pump. This mixes the oil permanently, so that it will never sepa- 
rate. Add seven pints of water and the wash is ready for use. 

Resin Soap. — Take twenty pounds of resin, two and one-half pints 
of fish oil, three and one-half pounds of caustic soda (98 per cent), and 
enough water to make one hundred gallons. Place all the ingredients 
together in the boiler with water enough to cover them three or four 
inches. Boil from one to two hours, occasionally adding water until 
the compound resembles very black coffee. Dilute to one-third the final 
bulk with hot water, or. if cold water is used, add very slowly over the 
fire, making a stock mixture to be diluted to the full amount as used. 
When spraying, the mixture should be perfectly i^uid and without sedi- 
ment. This mixture can be used twice or three times as strong on de- 
ciduous trees when dormant. 

INSECTS BORING IN TWIG, STEM, OR ROOT. 

The Common Borer. — An insect which has done vast injury 
in this State is the ''fiat-headed apple borer" (Chrysobothris 
femorata). It afifects chiefly apples, peaches, and plums, which 
have been injured by sunburn. It is a pale-colored grub with 



Various Borers. 449 

a brown head, the forepart of the body being greatly flattened. 
The matured beetle is greenish black or bronze colored, copper 
colored on the under side. If any tree receives any damage to 
the bark, either by sunburn or other causes, the borer is sure 
to find it, and it works itself into the tree, its castings being the 
only guide to its presence. The best remedy is prevention by 






Flat-head Borer and Beetle. Sun-scald Peach Moth and Its Boring Larva. 

Borer. 

protection from sunburn, as described in Chapter XI. When- 
ever a borer is removed, the debris and dead wood should be en- 
tirely cleaned out and the smooth surface left, taking care to pre- 
serve the bark as much as possible. Then the wound should be 
smeared over with grafting wax, and a rag tied about it. In 
this manner young trees have been saved, but if seriously at- 
tacked, it is better to put m a sound tree and protect it. 

Sun-Scald Borer. — Another borer which delights in sun- 
burned trees is a minute beetle, making a burrow hardly larger 
than a pin-hole. It is known as the sun-scald beetle {Xyloborus 
xylographus). The remedy, as in the former case, is to prevent 
injury to the bark, for this precedes the attack of the beetle. 

Peach Twig-Borer. — This grub is the larva of a moth 
(Anarsia lineatella), about half an inch in length when fully 
grown, and of a light reddish color. The moth, the worm (nat- 
ural size and enlarged), and the manner of its working in the 
peach, prune or apricot twigs, are shown in the engraving. The 
first brood of worms bore mto fresh young shoots of peach trees, 
the second into the fruit. Any infested shoots should be cut 
off and burned, and no hiding-places for the insects allowed. It 
is in the spring that they show their work most plainly by the 
withering young shoots. These must be cut off and destroyed. 
The most eft'ective treatment, however, is winter spraying. The 
value of the lime, salt and sulphur wash for this purpose has 
been long known, but why it was successful was not known until 
Ed. M. Ehrhorn, horticultural commissioner for Santa Clara 
County, found that the larvae passed the wnnter ensconsed in 
shallow biUTOws in the crotches of the limbs all through the 



450 



Txvig Borers. 



trees. The wash penetrates the borings which cover them, and 
kills. If it is not desirable to use this wash for scales or fungi in 
addition to the peach moth, kerosene enmlsion, diluted with one 
part of the stock emulsion to six parts of water, is a cheaper 
treatment. It can be used from December onward through the 
winter. The kerosene reaches the worms in their winter quar- 
ters very snrcefsfull}'. 




The Olive Twig-borer and Its Work. 



The Olive Tzvig-Borer. — A reddish brown beetle boring into 
twigs of olive and other orchard trees, and grape canes, at the 
axils of the leaves. The insect is shown in the engraving, some- 
what enlarged, as the line on the right shows the natural length 
of the insect. It is Polycaon eonfertus, and it breeds in decaying 
logs and stumps and old grape-vines, apparently visiting the fruit 
trees merely to gratify its appetite. Its work is not fatal to the 
tree, but unless proper pruning and attention be afterwards 
given, it may spoil the shape of a young tree. Remove the af- 
fected branches below the burrow of the beetle, or if it would 
be difficult to replace a branch, see that the beetle is destroyed 
and the entrance to the hole stopped up — this to prevent decay 
and a weak branch following. Spraying with ill-smelling solu- 
tions may prevent their attack, but the insect has not beeii suf- 
ficiently abundant to invite serious efifort thus far. 

Peach Crown-Borer. — A grub boring into peach trees just 
below the ground surface, its presence being shown by copious 
gumming. The insect, which has become quite troublesome in 
Santa Clara County, resembles the Eastern crown-borer of the 
peach, but is a distinct species {Sannania pacifiea, Riley). The 



Croivn Borers. 



451 



best methods of supressing this insect are two. A preventive 
treatment consists in coating- the base of the tree a few inches 
below the surface and a foot above with a whitewash, with a 
pint of coal tar to each five pounds of quicklime, put in while 




California Peach-boier. 

the lime is slaking. This should be done in April. A killing 
treatment which has proved effective and safe to the tree is car- 
bon bisulphide, when wisely used. Mr. Ehrhorn gives these 
precautions : — 

Carbon bisulphide should not be applied when the soil is wet or 
just before a rain, nor just after cutting out borers and putting on lime 
and other preventives. Avoid putting it on the bark of the "tree. 
Procure a machine oiler which will hold about eight ounces of carbon 
bisulphide, remove the soil around the trunk of the tree about six inches 
wide and six inches deep, being sure to detach all soil adhering to the 
trunk of the tree. After this is done, fill in this space with loose soil 
to the level again. Now squirt the liquid a few times from one to one 
and one-half inches away from the bark around the tree, and cover im- 
mediately with six inches of soil. Borers have been killed in from 
twenty hours to three days; after they are found to be dead, the soil 
should be removed from around the trees so that any remaining fumes 
of bisulphide can be dissipated 

Strawberry Root-Borer. — The larva of another clear-winged 
moth (Aegeria impropria), boring into the root of strawberry 




Strawberry Root-borer; Pupa, Grub and Moth. Currant Borer (enlarged) and Moth. 

plants, found in various portions of the State, and doing consid- 
erable damage, forcing the growers to resort to replanting much 



452 



The Codlin Moth. 



earlier than otherwise would be necessary. Flooding the vines 
has a great tendency to kill out the worms, and if the water was 
retained, say four of five days during the winter, all over the 
plants, doubtless all the larvae would be killed. 

Currant and Gooseberry Borer. — A white worm eating out 
the central pith of currant and gooseberry plants — the larva of 
another clear-winged moth (Aegeria tipuUfoimis). Spraying 
with whale-oil soap after the crop is gathered, pruning out and 
burning in the fall of all old wood which can be spared, will re- 
duce the evil. 

INSECTS DEVOURING THE PULP OF FRUITS. 

The Apple Worm. — The codlin moth (Carpoeapsa pomonella) 
is one of the great pests of the State. Its appearance and man- 
ner of work are sufficiently shown by the engraving. It preys 
chiefly upon the apple and pear, but the quince and other large 
fruits are sometimes invaded by it. The first moths appear at 
some time after the blossoming of the apple, and deposit their 
eggs on the yoimg fruit, or on adjacent leaves. The young 
worm hatches in from seven to ten days, generally seeks the 
eye or calyx, and eats its way into the fruit, and in twenty days 




Codlin Moth in Various Stages in Fruit, and Wintering in Rough Bark. 

its full grovt^th is attained, and it goes out through the side of 
the apple, and, by means of its spinneret, reaches the ground 
or some large branch. If landed on the ground, it usually seeks 
the trunk, which it ascends and soon finds a hiding-place under 
the loose bark, where it spins its cocoon, and in eight or ten 
days comes forth a moth, ready to lay eggs anew. The egg is 
laid all over the fruit, and especially at a point where two fruits 
touch. Usually we have in this State two broods, at least, but 



Tj-eatment for Codlin Moth. 453 

» 
more often three, and, naturally, if unchecked, the increase from 
the first to the last is enormous. The worms escaping from the 
fruit in the fall hibernate as larvae under the loose bark of the 
tree, or in storehouses, or in any available dry place. 

There is one sovereign remedy for the codlin moth, and 
that IS the spray of Paris green. Its efficacy, when properly 
done and pure material is used, is demonstrated beyond ques- 
tion. It is possible to secure from 80 to 90 per cent of sou id 
fruit where, without treatment, not 10 per cent would escape the 
worms. 

It is essential that the poison go from a fine nozzle in a mist 
or cloud, and as soon as the mist covers the fruit and leaves 
with a film of moisture stop the spray on those surfaces. Let 
the fine particles of poison be planted by the medium of the mist 
upon every point of the surface. There must be constant stirring 
of the water in which the poison is suspended. An occasional 
stirring will not prevent settling and unequal distribution. 

One spraying may sufilice for an early apple or pear, but 
medium or late fruit should have two or three sprayings to reach 
the offspring of later broods of moths. The first spraying 
should be done, as a rule, later than was formerly advised, be- 
cause it is now known that the moth does not visit the blossom, 
but the fruit after it has attained some size. It is a fact, however, 
that the little worms, on emerging from the eggs, generally seek 
the calyx or eye of the fruit for entrance, and it is important to 
have poison there. For this reason the first spraying should 
be done before the sepals close over the eye of the apple. The 
worm will make its way through these turned-down sepals and 
its poison should be ready for it inside. It is easier to thor- 
oughly poison ftiis cavity if the spraying is done while the little 
fruit still stands upright. Subsequent sprayings must be done, 
however, without regard to the position of the fruit. The later 
hatchings of the worms are more apt to enter through the sides 
of the vvell-grown fruit, especially at the point where the fruits 
are in contact with each other, and it is necessary tO' have the 
fruit continually covered with a film of the poison while these 
later broods are hatching, out, spraying at intervals of three 
or four weeks, to be continued, less or more in number, accord- 
ing to the lateness of maturity of the variety. 

Paris green often contains an undue amoimt of free arsenic, 
which is likely to injure the foliage seriously. For this reason 
a formula which guards against it is desirable: Stir one pound 
of Paris green and one pound of powdered lime, with a little 
water, into a thin paint, and then thoroughly mix this paint with 
cold water, so that the strength shall be one pound of Paris 
green to 160 gallons of water. 



454 Killing Yellow Jackets. 

The Peach Worm. — As already stated, the larva of the peach 
molh, which early in the spring bores into the twigs, is some- 
times found later in the season m the flesh of the peach. Hence 
the importance of saving the fruit by proper winter treatment of 
the hibernating worms. 

ANTS AND YELLOW JACKETS. 

These insects are often of serious trouble during fruit dry- 
ing. Ants are most effectually disposed of by slightly opening 
their holes in the ground by thrusting down a crowbar and pour- 
ing in a couple of ounces of carbon bisulphide and closing again 
with earth. Yellow jackets also nest in the ground in old squir- 
rel or gopher holes, and they too can be suffocated with carbon 
bisulphide or by pouring in gasoline or kerosene and firing it. 
Hornets which nest in trees are troublesome, but are much less 
numerous than the cave-dwelling species. 

To destroy yellow jackets by trapping and poison is also 
feasible. W. F. Moyer, of Napa, proceeds in this way: — 

Make a thin fruit syrup by mashing the boiling ripe fruit, strain it 
and add a little sugar. Place the syrup dishes on the drying ground 
where the "jackets" are thickest. When the top of the syrup is cov- 
ered with drowned and drownmg "jackets," scoop them out with the 
hand, and crush them with the foot. They won't sting imless you 
pinch them. As the syrup evaporates fill up the dishes with water. If a 
day or two should elapse when no fruit is cut, be sure the traps are well 
cared for, as they will swarm around them thicker than ever, especially if 
the weather is hot. For dishes to place the syrup in, cut kerosene cans 
so as to make two cans, each about six and one-half inches deep. 

Poisoning to carry destruction to the young brood is also 
practicable. Dr. J. H. Miller, of San Leandro, saved his fruit 
in this way: — * 

I bought half a dozen beef livers, five pounds of arsenious acid and 
several pounds of baling wire. Cutting the liver into pieces as large as 
a man's list, I put them into a hot solution of arsenious acid, and, bend- 
ing the wire into a hook at each end, I suspended the pieces from the 
lower limbs of trees all around my drying-ground. The fruit was soon 
deserted, and the little insects busily working at the fragrant liver. The 
insects carried pieces of the liver to their nests, and besides causing the 
death of those that had been destroying my fruit, the next generation 
of yellow jackets was also destroyed, and so complete was the destruc- 
tion that there were not enough of the little pests in that neighborhood 
the following year to require a repetition of the treatment. There is no 
risk in so using the poison, for the yellow jackets will not return to the 
fruit, and bees will not go near the meat. 

The Diabrotica. — A light green beetle with twelve spots on 
his back {D'labrotiea soror), is sometimes very injurious to early 
fruit, by eating into it when ripe. The insect also eats leaves 
and blossoms. As the insect attacks the fruit just as it is ready 
to pick, it is impossible to apply any disagreeable or poisonous 



Treatment of Nursery Stock. 455 

spray. Sometimes t]ie insects are driven away by dense smoke 
from fires in and around the orchard. 

The Dried Fruit Worm. — Dried fruit is often seriously in- 
jured after packing, by a small worm, larva of a moth not yet 
determined. The eggs are deposited on the fruit either while 
drying or while in the packing-house, or through the cloth of 
the sacks, or seams of the package. The eggs may be killed on 
the fruit before packing, by dipping in boiling water, or by heat- 
ing in an oven and after that preventing the access of the moth. 
Infested fruit can also be treated by bisulphide vapor, the method 
being the same as described for nursery stock below. 

DISINFECTING NURSERY STOCK. 

Cuttings, scions, young trees and vines, etc., can be freed 
from insects by inclosing in a tight box or cask and placing a 
saucerful of carbon bisulphide on the top of them, covering it 
with canvas or any tight-fitting cover. The bisulphide vapor 
will destroy all insect life in forty minutes. 

Disinfecting such materials on a larger scale is done by 
Alexander Craw, State quarantine officer, in this way: — 

Use square canvas sheets, sixteen to twenty feet in diameter, made 
of the best ducking, double stitched and then painted with boiled lin- 
seed oil +0 make it gas proof. The canvas must be perfectly dry before 
it is rolled up, or it is liable to be destroyed by spontaneous combustion. 
To fumigate evergreen stock use one ounce of cyanide of potassium (in 
lumps, not pulverized), one fluid ounce of commercial sulphuric acid, 
and two fluid ounces of water to one hundred cubic feet of enclosed 
space. For deciduous and hardy trees, when dormant, use one-fourth 
more of each of the above. When the canvas has been placed over the 
stock to be fumigated, prepare the charge. Take a three or four-gallon 
glazed earthenware jar, into which pour the necessary quantity of water, 
then the sulphuric acid, and place it well under the canvas, the edges of 
which are secured with soil or in some way so as to prevent the gas 
escaping, with the exception of the edge immediately in front of the 
jar. The proper amount of cyanide of potassium is then dropped into 
the jar from a long scoop, and the tent is immediately closed, and re- 
main? so for one hour. 

It is hoped that this chapter will convey useful hints in the 
warfare against insects. Whenever questions arise which are 
not met thereby, appeal should be made to the University Exper- 
iment Station at Berkeley. 



Black Scale (Lccaniuiii olt'o:). 




Soft Orange Scale (L. hespei iduiii). 



Cherry Scale {L. hisignicola). 





Frosty Scale (L. pruniosum). Filbert Scale (I^. hemisphtrJicuw). 

GROUP OF LECANIUM SCALES FROM THE UNIVERSITY COLLECTION. 



Mealy Bugs. 



447 



scale has a length of a quarter of an inch, and a width of one- 
eighth of an inch. This scale attacks nearly all kinds of decid- 
uous fruits, but especially the prune and apricot. It is a very 
hardy scale, and the remarks about the black scale apply to it 
also. 

Otlicv Lccaii!iii}is.— There are several other Iccauinms on fruit 
trees: The filbert scale (liernisphericuni), which is common in 
greenhouses and occurs to limited extent on citrus trees; the 
frosted scale {pruinosum). very large, oval and convex, cov- 
ered with dense, whitish bloom, occurs on deciduous fruit trees. 

Cottony Cushion Scale or Fluted Scale {Icerya pnrcliasi). — This 
promised at one time to be the most grievous of all scales in its 
rapid increase and wide range of food plants, but it was speedily 
reduced by an Australian ladybird, Novius (Vedaiia) cardinalis, 
introduced by Albert Koebelo, with such success that specimens 
are now rarely seen. 

Mealy Bugs. — Closely allied to the scales are the mealy bugs 
(species of dactylopius), soft and of a pale pink color, generally 
covered with a whitish mealy powder, hence the name. The 
common species is found in nearly every greenhouse in the 





Mealy Bugs, Chiefly upon Citrus Trees. 

world, and in California climate lives in the open air on many 
kinds of plants, and has at various times proved quite trouble- 
some. Unless checked by natural enemies, the m.ealy bugs mul- 
tiply veiy rapidly, and mass themselves in the corners of the 
leaves. The plants turn black from the fungus growth growing 
on the honeydew, and the bush presents the same appearance as 
a scale-infested plant. With the aid of a magnifier the appear- 
ance of the mealy bugs, as shown in the engraving, can be read- 
ily recognized. 

Remedies for Scale Insects. — Though most of the scale in- 
sects are attacked by parasitic and predacious insects, as already 
stated, these natural agencies have only in certain cases proved 
rapid enough to cope with the increase of the scales, and in- 
secticides have to be employed to save the fruit and trees. There 
is a vast number of these washes, many of which will do good 



458 Vario7is Blights. 

Toadstool Destruction. — Trees are often destroyed through 
invasion by toadstool fungi from decaying roots or wood with 
which their roots come in contact The injury is often not 
detected until the tree is ruined and it is too late for treatment. 
If only part is affected, the disease may sometimes be arrested 
by cutting away tlie diseased parts and disinfection of the ex- 
posed tissue with the Bordeaux Mixture. 

Moss, Lichens, etc., on the Bark. — It has been clearly shown 
by investigation at the University Experiment Station that the 
growth of moss, etc., upon the bark of fruit trees is a decided 
injury. All trees should be assisted to maintain clean, healthy 
bark. This is accomplished by the use of the lime, salt and sul- 
phur mixture already prescribed for scale insects. It can also 
be done by winter spraying with caustic soda or potash, one 
pound to six gallons of water. 

Blights and Decays. — There are several blights which are 
traceable to bacteria, parasitic growths which are not discernible 
as are the fungi, and not usually amenable to spray treatment, 
because they exist wholly within the tissues of the plant and are 
not reached by applications. The blights of the pear, the black- 
heart of the apricot, etc., are instances. Cutting back to healthy 
wood and burning all removed parts is the best treatment which 
can at present be prescribed. 

A local disease which has been den'onstrated by Newton B. 
Pierce, of Santa Ana, is the bacteriosis of the English walnut. 
The disease is recognized by black sunken spots on the hull of 
the young walnut; generally worst at the blossom end and usual- 
ly first seen there early in the season; later the spots run to- 
gether and encompass considerable areas of the surface. As- 
the disease progresses the nut is transformed into a hateful black 
mass and is utterly desiroyed. The disease also affects the 
leaves and young wood. The fallen nuts and leaves should be 
plowed under dee]:)ly or gathered and destroyed. The tree 
should receive careful pruning to remove all diseased parts. It 
mav be well to spray young trees in the winter with the Bor- 
deaux Mixture for the purpose of disinfecting the tree as per- 
fectly as possible. 

DISEASES NOT TRACEABLE TO PARASITIC GROWTHS. 

There are a number of prominent troubles which are not 
traceable to parasitic invasion of any kind, and yet may be in 
some cases promoted by bacterial growth invited by preceding 
conditions. 

Sour Sap. — There is a fermentation of the sap, quite notice- 
able by its odor, which may be found in all parts of the tree, from 
the root to the topmost twigs; sometimes in one part and not 
in another. Sour sap in the root is generally due to standing 



Die-Back, Guui and Root- Knot . 459 

water in the soil, and the remedy is drainage. Trees thus af- 
fected make an effort to grow and then the young growth shriv- 
els. Severe cutting back of the top to reduce evaporation until 
the roots can restore their feeding fibers is the only treatment 
of the tree, and its success depends upon the extent of the root 
injury. Sour sap may also be caused in the branches by the 
occurrence of frost after the sap flow has actually started. Cut- 
ting back the diseased parts, as soon as discovered, to sound 
wood, is the proper treatment. '■ ' 

Die-Back. — Dying back of twigs or branches may occur 
without parasitic invasion through root-weakness or partial fail- 
ure. It may be due to standing water or to lack of soil moisture, 
either of which will destroy the root-hairs and bring the tree into 
distress. The treatment is cutting back to sound wood and corr 
recting the soil conditions, either by irrigation or drainage, aa 
one or the other may be needed to advance vigorous growth .in 
the tree. 

Gummosis. — This is a convenient term to designate the gum- 
ming which is seen on many kinds of trees. As has been said 
of die-back, gumming may result from excess of water or of 
drouth in the soil. Gumming is, therefore, not considered in 
itself a disease, but rather an indication of conditions unfavora- 
ble to the thrifty growth of the tree. It has been usually found 
by investigation that trees in perfect condition of health, with 
the moisture just enough and not excessive, are not troubled 
with gumming; but there are cases in which this statement does 
not wholly apply. There is very much ni this connection which 
is not fully demonstrated as yet. Many treatments are pro- 
posed. It is a good thing to cleanly remove all the unhealthy 
bark — cutting clean to sound bark and covering the wound with 
paint or wax to exclude the air. Some report success with an 
antiseptic wash — diluted crude carbolic acid and the Bordeaux 
Mixture have both been used, and reported upon favorably. 

Root Knots. — These are excrescences upon the roots or at 
the root crown of various trees and of grape-vines, and they have 
been a serious trouble in this State for a good many years. 
Although the knot has been studied by experts in plant pathol- 
ogy, no exact cause of the trouble has yet been found. A satis- 
factory treatment has, however, been discovered. If the knot 
has not increased in size sufficiently to seriously interfere with 
the growth of the tree it can be smoothly removed, the wour^d 
treated with the Bordeaux Mixture, and the knot will not reap- 
pear at the same place. Success has also been had with boring 
a hole into the knot and filling the hole with bluestone solu- 
tion. Bluestone can be used with least danger when the tree 
is dormant. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
SUPPRESSION OF INJURIOUS ANIMALS AND BIRDS. 

The beasts of the field and the fowls of the air are some- 
times such grievous trespassers upon the fruit plantation that 
protection has to be sought against them. The animals which 
figure in this evil work are mainly species of rodentia, some of 
them burro'wers, as, for example, the ground-squirrel and 
gopher; others, surface dwellers, like the hare or jackass rabbit. 
Occasionally there is injury done by deer in the orchard and 
vineyard, and coons in the melon patch, but these larger animals 
may usually be left to the hunters and the dogs. 

RABBITS. 

Though there are three species prevalent, none are burrow- 
ers. This fact has led to united efforts at their suppression by 
driving them, with mounted horsemen, from a wide stretch of 
country into a narrow, fenced inclosure, where they are killed 
with clubs. During the last few years tens of thousands have 
been killed in this way, and comparatively few are now found 
in the localities v/here the method has been adopted. Still, 
however, there are plenty at large to vex the fruit planter, and 
he must protect himself against them. 

Rabbit Fences. — The surest protection against rabbits is a 
fence which prevents their entrance, and many miles of such 
fence have been built in this State. Several styles prevail. The 
ordinary board fence, with the boards running horizontally, is 
made rabbit-proof by placing the lower boards close together, 
with openings of but about two inches between them. A barbed 
wire, with barbs about two and one-half inches apart, can be 
used to advantage by running it along at or a little below the 
surface of the ground to prevent scratching under. 

The cost of board fences has led to the use of barbed wire 
and wire netting, or of perpendicular slats interwoven with wire. 
Such materials are sold in large quantities. A very efifective 
combination of barbed wire and netting, which is used in the 
upper San Joaquin Valley, is described as follows :— 

The tall posts are regular split redwood posts. The intermediate 
small ones are made by sawing in two the regular posts and splitting 

(460) 



Reduction of Rabbits. 



461 



them into eight small posts, or rather, large stakes. The netting is of 
galvanized wire. No. 19 gauge, and one and one-half-inch mesh. This 
netting is stapled to the posts and stakes on the inside, or toward the 
field. This is of prime importance, as it will not serve the purpose if 
it is placed on the outside. The bottom of the netting is to come down 
to the ground, and the ground must be left hard, and not plowed, to 
prevent burrowing or scratching the dirt from underneath, which can 
be easily done if the dirt is softened up. It is not at all necessary to 




A Rabbit-proof Fence in Successful Use in Miramonte Colony, Kern County. 

set the netting below the ground In the sketch are shown three 
barbed wires, with barbs two and a half inches apart. These wires must 
be placed on the outside of the posts. This position is also a prime 
necessity. The lower wire is stretched just clear of the surface of the 
ground. The middle wire is one inch higher than the top of the net- 
ting, and the top wire, which is intended only as against cattle, is at a 
height suitable for the purpose. The rabbit-proof portion is comprised 
in the netting and the two lower wires. Hence, if cattle are not feared, 
and rabbits are the only foe, the top wire can be dispensed with, and 
the posts can be all short with a greater proportion of stakes, having 
only enough stout posts to stand the strain of the wires. The theory 
of this construction is that a rabbit can only pass the fence over the top 
or under the bottom of the netting, and this is effectually prevented by 
the barbed wires, which tear the animal if it attempts either to leap or 
climb over, or to scratch under. 

Smears Distasteful to Rabbits. — Where the expense of a 
fence can not be assumed, measurable protection can be had by 
sprinkHng the leaves or smearing the stems of plants with sub- 
stances distasteful to the animals, which are quite dainty in this 
respect. Commercial aloes, one pound to four gallons of water, 
both sprinkled on leaves and painted on the bark, gives a bitter 
taste, which repels rabbits. A tea made by steeping quassia 
chips is said to produce the same effect. Rancid grease, liquid 
manure, putrescent flesh or blood, have been approved as a daub 
for tree trunks, but the ef^cacy is only of limited duration. 

Rabbit Poison. — Pieces of watermelon, cantaloupe, o^ other 
vegetable of which they are very fond, may be poisoned with 
strychnine and then scattered around the orchard. Rabbits will 
not touch the bark as long as they can find this bait, and one 
meal is effective, for the rabbit never gets far away from it. The 
same results can be attained by the following mixture. To one 
hundred pounds of wheat take nine gallons of water and one 
pound of phosphorus, one pound of sugar, and one ounce oil of 



462 Sq2iirrels and Gophers. 

rhodium. Heat the water to boiling point and let it stand all 
night. Next morning stir in iiour sufficient to make a sort of 
paste. The rabbits eat it with avidity if scattered about. 

Another preparation is half a teaspoonful of powdered 
strychnine, two teaspoonfuls of line salt, and four of granulated 
sugar. Put all in a tin box and shake well. Pour in small 
heaps on a board. It hardens into a solid mass. They lick it 
for the salt, and the sugar disguises the poison, which kills great 
numbers. 

GROUND-SQUIRRELS. 

Ground-squirrels are poisoned by the use of the poisoned 
wheats which are sold in the markets, or by use of bisulphide of 
carbon, or "smokers," which are arranged to force smoke into 
the holes. A small quantity of bisulphide of carbon poured 
into the hole, and the hole closed with dirt, is probably the most 
effective squirrel killer, when the ground is wet, so that the vapor 
is held in the burrow. Smokers are also most effective when 
the soil is moist. When the ground is dry, poison is the best 
means of reducing squirrels. The following is an exceedingly 
effective preparation, of which a few grains should be placed in 
or near each hole: — 

Take strychnine, one ounce; cyanide of potassium, one and one- 
half ounces; eggs, one dozen; honey, one pint; vinegar, one and one- 
half pints; wheat or barley, thirty pounds. Dissolve strychnine in the 
vinegar; and you will have to pulverize it in the vinegar, or it will gather 
into a lump. See that it is all dissolved. Dissolve the cyanide of potas- 
sium in a little water. Beat the eggs. Mix all the ingredients together 
thoroughly before adding to the barley. Let it stand twenty-four hours, 
mixing often. Spread to dry before using, as it will mold if put away 
wet. 

To keep squirrels from gnawing fruit trees, or climbing and 
getting the fruit, tying a newspaper around the trunk of the 
tree, letting the paper extend out four inches at the upper edges, 
is said to be effective. The rattle of the paper when the squirrels 
attempt to get over it will frighten them. 

GOPHERS. 

Gophers can often be destroyed by the use of poisoned 
wheat, especially if prepared with a little oil of rhodium, which 
seems to be very attractive to all rodents. Pieces of fruits or 
vegetables into which a few grains of strychnine have been in- 
serted by making a cut with a knife-blade and then squeezing it 
together again, are also handy conveyors of death to gophers. 
There are two ways to put poisoned materials into a gopher run- 
way. One is to look for fresh open holes and put in the poison 
as far as possible with a long-handled spoon; another is to take 
a round, pointed stick and shove it in the ground near the 



Traps for Gophers. 463 

gopher mounds until it strikes their runway, then drop in the 
poisoned bait. Close up the hole with some grass; level down 
mounds, so that if the poison does not kill all the gophers, you 
will soon discover their new mounds. If there are many 
mounds, put the poison in a number of places. 

Bisulphide of carbon is also successfully used in killing 
gophers, while the ground is wet, using an injector which is 
furnished with the poison to force the vapor through the long 
burrows. 

Trapping Gophers. — Some are very successful in using 
gopher traps, of which there are several styles sold. Gophers 
come to the surface in the night, and generally close their holes 
soon after daybreak. They frequently emerge again about noon, 
and a third time late in the afternoon. It is best to set the trap 
in an open hole; still, the holes may be opened if the dirt is still 
fresh, with a good prospect of the gopher's return. Therefore, 
the trapper may make his rounds three times a day, as above 
indicated. Care should be exercised in preparing the hole for 
the insertion of the trap, a straight hole for a distance ot at 
least ten inches, with no lateral branches, otherwise the gopher 
in pushing out the dirt will likely enough thrust the trap to one 
side, cover it up, or spring it, without being exposed to its grasp. 
The trapper should be supplied with at least two varieties of 
traps — one for the larger gophers, and the other for the smaller 
ones. The common iron gopher trap, which springs downward, 
is excellent for the former, and the small wire trap, which springs 
upward, is generally successful with the latter. The size of the 
hole is indicative of the size of the gopher. Either trap should 
be inserted nearly its full length into the hole, pressed down 
firmly, and a little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being 
easily pushed out. After the trap is set, it is well to cover the 
opening with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes re- 
quire a little enlarging, but care should be taken to make the 
fit as close as possible, that the body of the gopher may be kept 
near the center, and thus more exposed to the prongs of the 
trap. In the fourth place, the trapper should have a small spade 
and a little gouge-shaped implement for trimming the hole. 

Gopher Pitfalls. — If gophers are abundant, large numbers 
can be captured in this way; Dig a trench around the orchard 
or vineyard about the width of a spade and from fourteen to 
sixteen inches deep. In the bottom of the ditches, about a hun- 
dred feet apart, sink live-gallon oil cans, leaving the tops level 
with the ditch bottom. The gophers migrate in the night, and 
in attempting to come into the inclosure will fall into the ditch 
and then run along the bottom until they drop into the cans. 
Of course the ditch must not be wider than the cans. As many 
as fifteen live gophers have been found in one can. The cats 



464 Poiso7iing Birds. 

soon learn to help themselves out of the cans. The ditch must 
be kept clean, and if any roads cross the tract, set up a board at 
night, to compel the gophers to tumble in the ditch. This ditch 
should be constructed about the first of June, when the outside 
feed begins to dry up, and the pests rush for the cultivated ground. 
With such protection from the outside, and the use of poison 
and traps inside, the trees and vines can be saved. 

DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS. 

Fruit growers generally appreciate the value of insectivo- 
rous birds, but there are feathered pests which do such ruinous 
work in disbudding the trees in spring-time, and in destroying 
ripe fruit, that productive measures have to be adopted against 
them. The so-called "California linnet," which is not a linnet, 
but a finch (Carpodacus frontalis), a persistent destroyer of 
buds, and the English sparrow, infamous the world over, are 
probably the most grievous pests, though there are other de- 
structive birds, including the beautiful California quail, which is 
protected by law, and yet must be destroyed in some parts of the 
State or the grape crop must be abandoned. 

For the killing of the smaller birds poison is usually em- 
ployed, and it is best administered in water. Poisoned water 
made of one-eighth ounce strychnine to three gallons of water 
and placed in shallow tin pans in the trees, has been widely ap- 
proved. Cutting oranges in halves, spreading strychnine over 
the cut surface and empaling the half-oranges on twigs high up 
in the apricot trees, has destroyed hundreds of linnets. Some 
advocate the use of the shotgun. No. 30 caliber, with a small 
charge of good powder and No. 10 shot. As many as five hun- 
dred linnets have been killed in two days. The advantage of 
this plan is that one kills linnets and not other birds, while poison 
kills both friends and foes. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

PROTECTION FROM WIND AND FROSTS. 

Though the climate of California renders unnecessary the 
protection against rigorous weather which fruit growers in some 
other parts of the world have to provide, there is often advan- 
tage in securing shelter from winds and protection from late 
frosts. 

The general subject of forest planting in California, and the 
effect of preservation and extension of our forest area upon our 
fruit industries, has received the attention of our best-informed 
growers. The planting of shelter belts at intervals across our 
broad valleys at right angles to the courses of prevailing or 
most violent winds, has also been urged with great force. These 
greater enterprises and projects are beyond the scope of this 
treatise. It is rather concerning the planting of trees to shelter 
individual possessions that a few suggestions will be offered. 

It has been already remarked that on the immediate coast 
the successful growth of fruit will sometimes be wholly depend- 
ent upon proper shelter from prevailing winds, and in regions 
farther from the ocean the topography may induce strong cur- 
rents of air which will illy affect trees and vines. In all such 
places the fruit grower should plant windbreaks, and will find 
himself well repaid for the ground they occupy, by the success- 
ful production on the protected area. 

In the interior valleys there is also need of shelter from 
occasional high winds which may visit the orchards either in 
summer or winter, and prove destructive both to trees and fruit. 
In some cases long lines of sheltering trees have been cut down 
because they affected the fruiting of orchard trees planted too 
near them, and afterwards the losses through lack of protection 
were far greater than would have been incurred by retaining 
them.. 

What Kind of Trees to Plant.— This is a question concern- 
ing which there is much to be learned. Data is accumulating 
in the growth of trees planted to test their suitability, and the 
future planter will have more certain ground to proceed upon 
than is now available. Mention will be made, however, of a 
few trees, which are now most widely grown. 

( 465 ) 



466 Trees for Windbreaks. 

The most widely-planted shelter tree is the Eucalyptus 
globulus, or Australian blue gum. It is a rapid grower and vo- 
racious feeder, and wonderful for root extension, for which it 
has been roundly abused. It is doubtful, however, whether we 
have a better tree for high growth, and consequent large area 
over which its shelter will be felt. It is deficient ia vmdergrowth, 
and if a close screen is desired, the planting of eucalyptus and 
Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) is a common practise. 
The latter also attains good height, but its broad, thick base fills 
the gaps between the bare stems of the gum trees. Another tree 
which has often been planted with the blue gum, to supply a 
thick, low growth, is the pepper tree (Schiiius molle). It is also 
grown in rows by itself. It makes a dense head, grows rapidly, 
and flourishes without much care. Trees planted eighteen feet 
apart will soon come together and make a dense wall of very 
beautiful, bright, light-green foliage. The pepper is not only a 
good windbreak, but also an excellent dust-catcher. Unlike 
most trees which are used for this purpose, it does not become 
laden with dust. The leaves are smooth and glossy, and there- 
fore repel the dust particles, which, stopped in their flight by the 
dense foliage of the tree, instead of clinging to it drop to the 
ground. The growth of the pepper tree near the coast is much 
slower than that of the Monterey cypress. The eucalyptus and 
the cypress for the coast, and the eucalyptus and pepper for the 
interior valleys, make, probably, as perfect a wall of foliage all the 
year round as can be had. Tlie blue gum is, however, some- 
what subject to frost killing, especially n'hen young, and in very 
frosty places is objected to on that account. A number of other 
species of eucalyptus are now being planted, and are being 
found more hardy than the blue gum. The polyanthema, 
amygdalina, and vitmnalis are of this character. 

The Monterey pine (Pinus insignis) is a rapid, high-grow- 
ing tree, and. though a native of the coast, has proved itself well 
adapted to the interior valleys of the central portion of the State. 
Its foliage is dense for a pine, and its shelter, therefore, the more 
complete. A native white cedar ( Libocedrus dcctirrens) has also 
been employed as a shelter tree in the San Joaquin Valley, and 
is commended as rapid a grower in the interior as on the coast. 
Its ability to stand drouth, heat and frost is said to exceed 
that of any of the conifers of the seacoast. It stands well in 
the most exposed situations, as its roots run very deep into th? 
earth, and it is claimed that it does not sap the fertility from the 
soil around its base, as with the blue gum. It is also said to be 
less subject to frost injury than the Monterey cypress and pine. 

All the foregoing are evergreen trees, and therefore afford 
protection summer and winter alike. Of deciduous trees there 
are many which may be well employed. The California black 



Protection frotn Frost Injury. 467 

walnut makes a very satisfactor}- growth both in the interior and 
upon the coast, and is largely used for roadside planting. The 
California broad-leaved maple (Acer macrophylla) is very beau- 
tiful, rapid in growth, and dense in foliage, and the same is true 
of the box elder (Acer negrundo), but probably both trees are 
especially suited to the coast regions. Of the poplars, the 
Carolina (Populus monilifera) is best, because of its breadth, 
density of foliage, and comparative freedom from suckering. 
The locust (Robinia pseudacia) is used to some extent, but its 
suckering is very objectionable. 

Quite a number of the larger-growing deciduous fruit trees 
are used to some extent along the exterior lines of orchards for 
the protection of the inclosure. The fig, the walnut, the chest- 
nut, seedling almonds, and apricots are especially commenaed 
for such use. 

Growing Trees from Seed. — Much that has been said in 
Chapter VIII will be suggestive to one who desires to grow his 
own shelter trees from seed. Trees from small seeds are best 
grown in boxes, and in many cases, as with eucalyptus and 
cypress especially, do best when put in permanent place when 
quite small. Whether put at once in permanent place, or in 
nursery, the land should be deeply worked and the young plant 
well planted and cared for. 

Cultivation of Shelter Trees. — If one desires rapid growth 
of shelter trees, they should be cultivated the first few years as 
thoroughly as an orchard. Much disappointment results from 
allowing roadside trees to shift for themselves in a hard, dry 
soil. With such treatment the root extension is naturally most 
rapid into the cultivated orchard ground, which is undesirable. 
Cultivate and enrich the roadside, and the tree will grow chiefly 
on the waste land. At the same time the roadside will be pre- 
vented from producing vast quantities of weed seed, t<> be bl.wn 
over the fence, and the place will have a name tor neatness, 
which is too rare even in California. 

PROTECTION FROM FROSTS. 

Much attention has been given during recent years to the 
protection of citrus fruits as they approach maturity, and oi de- 
ciduous fruits as they are starting on their growth, from occa- 
sional fall of the mercury a few degrees below the freezing point. 
It has been shown by ample experience that fruits may escape 
injury by a temperature of 28° if the ground surface is wet and 
the exposure be but of short duration. Fruit has, therefore, 
been saved by irrigation, while that over dr\' ground has been 
nipped by the same temperature. About the same result has 
been secured by checking radiation of heat by covering the or- 
chard or vineyard with a cloud of smoke. Both these pro- 



468 Best Way ivith Freezes. 

tective measures fail when the temperature falls a few degrees 
below 28° or when such freezing temperature is continued sev- 
eral hours. During the last few years, at Riverside, systematic 
invention and trial of frost prevention has proceeded, and the 
most satisfactory results are thus described by E. W. Holmes: — 

Satisfactory results have been gained by the use of soft coal, burned 
in wire baskets suspended under or between the trees. When twenty 
to forty of these to the acre were used, we occasionally raised the tem- 
perature from three to five degrees. More has been claimed; but this 
is all that I am sure has been achieved. However, in a section where 
the temperature would not go below twenty-five or twenty-six degrees 
for a few hours, this method was ample. The outfit costs about ten 
cents a basket, or four dollars an acre if forty baskets are used, and the 
coal about two and one-half dollars an acre per night. The objection 
is the labor of replenishing the baskets in case of their being used the 
second night, because even if kerosene is poured upon the kindling, it is 
no easy task to light four hundred fires with a torch. Four men will 
be required to do this in proper time. Still, this is the system more 
generally approved here, and because definite and certain results have 
been achieved through it. 

This refers to the protection of citrus fruits, the value of 
which as the crop is maturing will warrant the cost. With de- 
ciduous fruits thus far only smoke and steam clouds from burn- 
ing piles of damp rubbish have been employed, except in irri- 
gated regions where, if the frost threatens while the ground is 
dry, the limited efficacy of running water is resorted to. There 
is ample field for farther experiment in all lines of frost pre- 
vention. 

Where there is trouble from early activity of deciduous trees 
the trees may be kept dormant for a limited time by winter 
spraying with whitewash, which reflects heat and thus prevents 
activity. Experiment has shown that heat upon the aerial parts 
of the tree start the growth; it does not come from the root as 
was formerly supposed. 



PART TENTH: MISCELLANEOUS. 



CHAPTER XL. 

UTILIZATION OF FRUIT WASTES. 

Some progress has been recently attained in the securing of 
horticultural by-products from various kinds of fruit wastes. 
There is a considerable product of cream of tartar from the 
pomace and lees of the wineries in central California. In 
southern California citric acid factories are largely using lemons 
rejected in packing, and some other by-products of citrus fruits 
have been secured in small quantities. Vinegar from wine and 
cider are, of course, made here as everywhere in fruit countries. 

There has arisen also a profitable demand for fruit pits and 
apricot and peach pits, which formerly were burned, are now 
selling profitably — machinery for cheap extraction of the ker- 
nels having been contrived by California inventors. The ker- 
nels are bought by agents of European manufacturers of oils 
and essences. 

The disposition of waste fruit by growers must, however, 
always lie chiefly in the line ol feeding animals, and refuse fresh 
fruits of all kinds, and especiallv refuse dried fruits have nutritive 
value which should not be lost, A statement of the value of 
various fruits as compared with various cattle foods has been 
prepared by Prof, M. E, Jafifa, of the University Experiment 
Station, in the table upon the next page. 

A good average of the pitted fresh fruits is represented by 
prunes. Using the equivalents in the table below for computa- 
tion, it appears that if wheat bran costs $15 per ton, fresh prunes 
would be worth as a substitute $3 per ton; likewise, if cotton- 
seed meal is selling for $21 per ton, the prune value would be 
about $2.75. At the market price of oat hay, the figure for fresh 
prunes should be nearly $3 per ton. 

The dried fruits naturally rank far above the fresh material 
as stock feed. Of the dried fruits represented in the table, 
raisins lead in food value; containing one and one-fourth to one 

(469) 



470 



Value of Waste Fruit for Stock. 



and one-half times the nutritive ingredients of alfalfa and oat 
hays, respectively; lOO pounds of the fruit being practically equal 
to the same quantity of grain, but to only eighty-two and fitty- 
nine pounds respectively of rice bran and cotton-seed meal. 
Comparative Value of Fruits, and Hay, Grains Meals, etc. 



100 Pounds Fruit Equivalent to Pounds of 






ss 






FRESH FRUITS 

Apples 

Oranges 

Pears 

Plums 

Prunes 

Apricots 

Nectarines 

Figs 

Grapes 

Watermelons 

Nutmeg Melons ... 

DRIED FRUITS 

Dried prunes 

Dried apricots 

Dried peaches 

Dried figs 

Raisins 



34 
33 
40 

50 
46 
40 

43 
50 
50 
22 

19 



175 
194 
190 
186 
216 



20 


24 


15 


19 


23 


14 


23 


30 


17 


30 


36 


22 


27 


33 


20 


23 


29 


17 


26 


30 


19 


30 


37 


23 


30 


37 


23 


13 


16 


10 


II 


13 


8 


104 


12,5 


78 


"5 


i.^« 


86 


113 


135 


8,5 


no 


132 


83 


128 


153 


97 



82 
90 

88 

85 
100 



97 

95 

93 

108 



84 
93 
91 
89 
103 



92 
102 
100 

97 
III 



84 
93 
91 
89 
103 



13 
12 

15 
20 
18 
15 
17 
20 
20 



68 
76 

74 
72 



Dried apricots rank slightly lower than raisins, because 
they contain more water. Apricots are, however, of equal value 
as a feeding stufif with wheat bran, that is, the unsalable dried 
apricots are worth to the orchardist about fifteen dollars per ton 
tor feeding purposes. 

Prune-fed or raisin-fed pork is indeed an accomplished fact 
in California. As to the acceptability of the fruit diet to the hog 
what could be more pertinent and more fitting appendix to this 
treatise than this little tale? It is stated that Mr. Balaam, of 
Farmersville, used to have a pet pig that ran under the fig trees 
near the house. When the fruit began to drop, he ate figs and 
rested in the shade until he finally grew too fat to move about 
to gather the sweet morsels. By this time his owner became so 
much interested in the case as to carry him his regular figs three 
times daily. Gradually, he grew so fat that his eyes closed en- 
tirely and he was blind and helpless. 



IISIDEX:. 



Page. 

Acorns, edible 43 

Alkaline Soils : 40, 49 

Alligator Peai 3S7 

Almond, The 406 

growing from seed 71 

hulling and bleaching 40S 

pruning 406 

situations and soils 406 

wild 43 

varieties 409 

Animals, injurious 459 

Ants, killing 452 

Apple in California 187 

drying 427 

exposures for 189 

localities for 1S7 

mildew 455 

native crab 39 

planting, distance 190 

pruning 119, 190 

scab or smut 455 

second crop 188 

seedlings, growing 69 

shipping 193 

soils for 1S9 

Southern California iSS 

storehouse for 191 

summer and fall 103 

table of varieties 199 

thinning 191 

varieties 192 

when to pick .'...191 

winter 193 

worm 451 

Varieties: hitroduced. 

Alexander 194 

Baldwin 195 

Ben Davis 195 

Carolina Red June 194 

Cayuga Red Streak 194 

Duchess of Oldenburg 194 

Early Harvest 194 

Early Strawberry 194 

Esopus Spitzenhurg 196 

Fall Pippin 194 

Fameuse 195 

Gloria Mundi 195 

Gravenstein 194 

Hoover 195 

Jonathan 195 

King of Tompkins County 195 

Lady 196 

Lawver 196 

Maiden's Blush 194 

Missouri Pippin 196 

Newton Spitzenhurg 195 

Nickajack 196 

Northern Spy 196 

Ortley 195 

Rambo 195 

Rawles Janet 197 

Red Astracan 194 

Red Bietigheimer 194 

Rhode Island Greening 195 

Romanite 196 



Page. 

Rome Beauty 196 

Smith's Cider 196 

Stark 197 

Swaar 196 

Twenty-ounce . 194 

Vandevere 195 

Wagener 199 

White Astracan 194 

White Belljiower 195 

White Winter Pearmain 196 

Winesap 195 

Yellow Bellflower 196 

Yellow Newtown Pippin 197 

Varieties: Californian. 

Cook's Seedling 198 

Marshall's Red 197 

Skinner's Seedling 197 

Varieties: Crabs. 

Hyslop 197 

Large Red Siberian 197 

Large Yellow Siberian 197 

Montreal Beauty 197 

Transcendant 197 

Whitney's 197 

Apricot 200 

diseases of 208 

distances for 204 

drying 427 

exposures for 200, 203 

growing seedlings 70 

irrigation 208 

localities for 200 

old trees 200, 207 

on almond root 203 

pruning 204 

shot-hole fungus 456 

stocks and soils for 202 

table of varieties 210 

thinning 207 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Bergetti 212 

Blenheim 211 

Early Golden 210 

Early Moorpark 211 

Hemskirke .'. 212 

Large Early 210 

Large Early Montgamet 211 

Luizet .'. 211 

Moorpark 212 

Oullin's Early '. 211 

Peach 212 

Royal 210 

Shipley 211 

St. Ambroise 211 

Varieties: Californian. 

Newcastle 212 

Routier's Peach 212 

Sparks' Mammoth 212 

Army worms 435 

Banana, The 381 

Barberry, native 42 

Berries and currants 389 

Birds, poisoning 463 

Blackberry, The 39° 

cultivation 39' 

■ (471) 



472 



Index. 



Page. 

distances for 390 

longevity of 393 

propagation 390 

pruning 391 

wild 40 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Crandall's Early 393 

Kittatinny 393 

Lawton 393 

Wilson 393 

Varieties: Calif ornian. 

Evergreen 393 

Mammoth 394 

Borers 448 

Bones, treatment of. 158 

Bordeaux Mixture 456 

Budding, common method 76 

June 78 

over old trees 85 

spring 78 

Bud, cutting to a 133 

Buds, dormant 85 

Cactus fruits 43 

Canned fruit product 421 

Canker worms 435 

Caterpillars 436, 438 

Chain for haxagonal laying out 98 

Chamisal and chaparral 58 

Charcoal making 62 

Cherimoyer 382 

Cherry 214 

delayed fruiting of 216 

distances for 217 

exposures for 217 

gum disease 222 

grafting the 221 

localities for 215 

old trees 214 

pests and diseases 222 

pruning the 218 

seedlings growing 69 

slug 435 

soils for the 215 

stocks for the 217 

tables of varieties 224 

wild 39 

Varieties: Introduced. 

American Amber 225 

American Heart 225 

Arch Duke 226 

Baumann's May 225 

Belled' Orleans 225 

Belle Magnifique 226 

Black Eagle 225 

Black Spanish 226 

Black Tartarian 225 

Burr's Seedling 226 

Cleveland Bigarreau 225 

Coe's Transparent 225 

Early Black Guigne 225 

Early Lamaurie 225 

Early Purple Guigne 225 

Early Richmond 226 

Early White Heart 225 

Elkhorn 226 

Elton 225 

English Morello 226 

Governor Wood 225 

Graffion 225 

Great Bigarreau 226 

Guigne Marbree 225 

Guigne Noir Luisante 226 

Kentish 226 

Knight's Early Black 225 

Late Duke 226 

May Duke 226 

Monstrueiise de Mezel 226 



Page. 

Napoleon Bigarreau 226 

Oxheart 226 

Pontiac 226 

Reine Hortense 226 

Rockport Bigarreau 225 

Royal Ann 226 

Schmidt's Bigarreau 226 

Tradescant's Black Heart 226 

Werder's Early Black 225 

White Tartarian 225 

Yellow Spanish 225 

Varieties: Pacific Coast. 

Bing 226 

Black Republican 226 

California Advance 227 

Centennial 227 

Lewelling 226 

Oregon 227 

Chestnut, The. 409 

Choco or Cayota 382 

Citron, The 380 

Clearing land for fruit 57 

brushy 61 

cost of. 58 

steam puller 60 

stump puller 6i 

with powder 61 

time to cut to kill 63 

Climate, divisions of California 12 

of California, characteristics of. 9 

of California, why mild 11 

foot-hill 16 

mountain 17 

coast 13 

valley 15 

value of 25 

Cloudiness, east and west 23 

Coast pests and diseases 14 

Codlin moth 451 

Composting 161 

Corner, to find true 94 

Cranberries 394 

wild 41 

Crops between trees or vines 142 

Crystallizing fruit 422 

Cultivation 138 

hillside 147 

methods of 145 

shallow, results of 141 

summer 149 

to retain moisture 138 

without plowing 150 

Currants 395 

culture of 395 

regions for 395 

varieties grown 396 

wild 41 

Custard apple 382 

Cutworms 435 

Cuttings, fruit trees from 73 

Dates 316 

at the missions 316 

bearing age of 319 

bearing in Solano County 316 

blooming of 319 

first fruit 316 

from seed 318 

from suckers 3^9 

propagation of. 318 

requirements of 318 

transplanting 319 

Dewberry 394 

Diabroticas 433 

Die-back 4.s8 

Drainage desirable 185 

Dried fruit (see fruits) 
boxes for 427 



Index. 



473 



Page. 

covering 424 

cutting sheds 424 

dipping 426 

grading and cleaning 426 

paclcing 426 

product of 421 

sulphuring 424 

sweating 426 

traj's for 424 

worm 433 

Elderberries 40 

Fertilizers, in California 154 

caution in use of 163 

for trees and vines 156 

methods of applying 163 

value of green 164 

when necessary ; IS5 

Fig. 



321 

bearing age 327 

budding 324 

caprification 328 

drying 428 

foes of 329 

from cuttings 322 

from seeds 326 

grafting 326 

planting and pruning 327 

regions for 322 

size of old trees 321 

soils for 322 

varieties, full list of 329, 330, 331 

•Filbert growing 410 

Frosts, protection from 466 

Fruit gardens, early 50 

Fruit interest, extent of 54 

Fruit tree acreage 55 

Fruit products, value of 56 

Fruits, crystallizing 422 

drying 423 

drying floors 424 

graders 424 

grafted, first in California 48 

value as stock food 469 

Fruits, locations for 10 

Fruits, native 38 

Fruit shipments, eastern 54 

Fruit trees, dwarf 50 

Gooseberry, The 396 

culture of 397 

requirements of 397 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Berkeley 397 

Champion 398 

wild 41 

Gophers, killing 461 

pitfall for 462 

trapping 462 

Grafting 79, 86 

bark 86 

cleft 81 

root 82 

side 82, 88 



top . 



whip 82 

wax for .....80, 87 

waxed bands So 

Graft, time to 88 

Grafts, planting out 83 

Granadilla 383 

Grape, area of 55, 281 

budding 288 

conditions of ripening 22, 281 

diseases of 307 

distance 294 

from cuttings 285, 296 

from layers 284 



Page. 

from seed 283 

grafting 289, 293 

mildew 307 

planting devices 294, 296 

planting in rows 295 

products 54, 56 

pruning 298, 307 

pruning, long 302, 304 

pruning, short 301 

resistant 293 

rooting in nursery 2S7, 292, 295 

soils for 282 

stakes, twine, etc 305 

sulphuring 307 

summer pruning 305 

syrup 433 

varieties 309 

wild 40 

wine, varieties of. 315 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Almeria 314 

Black Corinth 314 

Black Cornichon 313 

Black Ferrara 313 

Black Hamburg 312 

Black Malvoise 310 

Black Morocco — 313 

Black Muscat 313 

Canon Hall Muscat 314 

Chasselas de Fontainebleau 309 

Chasselas Rose 310 

Chasselas Victoria 310 

Cinsaut 314 

Early Black July 309 

Early Madeleine 309 

Emperor 313 

Feher Szagos 311 

Flame Tokay 312 

Golden Chasselas 310 

Gros Colman 313 

Huasco Muscat 311 

Larga Bloom 311 

Mission 310 

Muscat of Alexandria 310 

Muscatel , 310 

Muscatel Gordo Blanco 311 

Muscat Frontignan 310 

Palomino 310 

Purple Cornichon 313 

Purple Damascus 313 

Rose of Peru 312 

Sabalskanski 314 

Siveetwater 309 

Sultana 311 

Thompson's Seedless 311 

Verdal 314 

White Champion 314 

White Cornichon 313 

White July 309 

White Malaga 311 

White Tokay 314 

Varieties: Californian. 

Isabella Regia 314 

Grasshoppers, killing 440 

Growing season, long 25 

Guava, The 383 

Gummosis 458 

Gypsum, uses of 160 

Hard-pan, breaking up 146 

Heat, deficient on coast 14 

importance of 19 

summer, records of 20 

Heeling in young trees 105 

Hexagonal planting 97 

Hillside, rows on 95 

use of triangle on 98 

Huckleberries, wild 41 



c\y 



31 



474 



Index. 



Page. 

Humidity, atmospheric 23 

east and west 24 

deficient 26 

excessive 26 

Insects, injurious 434 

Irrigation 167 

distributing manure by 164 

ditches i73 

drainage and 186 

flooding 17s 

for citrus fruits 169 

for deciduous fruits 170 

flume building for i74 

how much 168 

in early days 51 

in basins or checks i75 

in furrows i74. '77 

in nursery 75 

leveling for 178 

locating contour lines i79 

manurial value of 164 

measuring 183 

methods of. i73 

nursery 75 

reservoirs, small I79 

running ditches for I77 

subirrigation 1S5 

suggestions for 184 

summer 172 

taken from ditches i73 

wells and pumps for 181, 182 

wheels for 181 

when desirable 167, 171 

winter 171 

Jajoba 43 

Jujube of commerce 383 

Jujube, native 42 

Kai Apple 388 

Knife for cling peaches 429 

Lemon, The 373 

curing 37^ 

planting and pruning 374 

propagation 374 

situations and soils for 373 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Genoa 379 

Lisbon 379 

Villa Franca 379 

Varieties: Californian. 

Bonnie Brae 380 

Eureka 379 

Lemon berry 42 

Lice, leaf 4.39 

Lime, The 380 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Mexican 3S0 

Imperial 380 

Lime, uses of i59 

Loganberry 4°° 

Loquat, The 383 

Manure, care of 160 

Manuring at planting 109 

Manzanita berries 42 

Map of orchard and vineyard m 

Marls 159 

Mealy bugs 446 

Melon shrub 386 

Melon tree 386 

Mission fruits 44 

Moisture 1 ost by weed growth 141 

retained by cultivation 141 

Morning g lory, killing i53 

Mulberry, The 398 

Mulching after planting iii 



Page. 
instead of cultivation 153 

Nectarine 245 

compared with peach 245 

dried 246 

future of. 246 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Advance 246 

Boston 247 

Downton 246 

Early Newington 246 

Hardwicke 247 

Humboldt 247 

Lord Napier 246 

New White 247 

Stan wick 247 

Nitrogen for fruits 159 

Nursery 66 

growing seedlings 69 

laying out and planting ; 83 

pruning in 84 

selection of site for 67 

soil, preparation of. 68 

soil, proper for 66 

trees, ages of 84 

trees, digging 104 

trees, disinfecting 454 

trees, selecting 103 

when to plant in 73 

Nuts growing in California 406 

growing from seed 71 

Olives 333 

at old missions 46 

budding 336 

climate for 334 

from cuttings 334 

from seed 334 

grafting 338 

localities for 334 

oil making 342 

planting 339 

pruning 339 

pickling 344 

small cuttings 335 

soils for 334 

truncheons 336 

wild 43 

Varieties: Introdticed. 

Ascolano 350 

Columbella 349 

Corregliolo 350 

Empeltre 35© 

Frantoio : 350 

Grossaio 35° 

Leccino 35° 

Lucques 349 

Macrocarpa 35° 

Manzanillo 34S 

Mission 346 

Nevadillo Blanco 349 

Oblonga 347 

Oblitza 349 

Pendulina 349 

Pendoulier 347 

Polvmorpha 349 

Razzo 350 

Redding Picholine 546 

Regalis 35° 

Rubra 348 

Sevillano 349 

Uvaria 348 

Orchard land, preparation of 9° 

laying out in squares 92 

alternating squares 92 

double squares 92 

measure and sight 93 

measuring wire 93 

quincunx planting 95 



Index. 



475 



Page. 

time for planting io6 

Orange 351 

budding 356 

diseases 367 

distances for 358 

from cuttings 73, 352 

from layers 352 

from seed 352 

nursery 352 

planting m orchard 358 

product 351 

pruning 361 

seedlings, care of 352 

situation and soils for , 351, 352 

transplanting 359 

Varieties, Introduced. 

Australian Navel 370 

Bahia 369 

Kincquat 372 

St. Michael 37° 

Maltese Blood 370 

Mediterranean Sweet 370 

Paper Rind St. Michael 370 

Riversidit Navel 369 

Ruby 370 

Satsuma 371 

Tangerine 371 

Valencia Late 371 

Washington Navel 369 

Palm nuts 43 

Peach 228 

approved lists of 239 

curl-leaf 236 

diseases 236 

distance in planting 232 

dormant buds 232 

drying 428 

early bearing 229 

grafting 236 

growing season of. 25, 238 

localities for 229 

longevity of 232 

mildew 236 

moth 448 

"peach-almond " 2,^2 

pitting clings 544 

pruning 122, 233 

seedlings 70 

soils for 230 

stocks for 231 

tables of varieties 23S 

thinning 235 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Alexander 240 

Amsden 240 

Bilyeu's Late October 244 

Crawford's Early 240 

Crawford's Late 241 

Elberta 241 

Foster 240 

George Fourth 240 

Hale's Early 240 

Hardy Yellow Tuscany 243 

Heath 243 

Henrietta 244 

La Grange 243 

Lemon Clingstone 241 

Levy's Late 244 

Mary's Choice 240 

Morris' White 241 

Oldmixon Free 240 

Orange Clingstone 241 

Picquel's Late 243 

Red Cheek Melocoton 240 

Salway 243 

Smock Free 243 

Snow 240 



Page. 

Strawberry 240 

Steadly 243 

Stump the World 241 

Susquehanna 242 

Tuskena 240 

Wager. . . 241 

Wheatland 241 

Yellow St. John 240 

Varieties: Californian. 

Albright's Cling 243 

Briggs' Red May 240 

California 243 

Decker 244 

Early Imperial 240 

Edward' s Cling. 243 

General Bidwell - 243 

George's Late Cling 243 

Honest Abe 240 

Lovell 242 

McCowan's Cling 242 

Muir 241 

McDevit's Cling 243 

McKevitt's Cling 242 

Newhall 241 

Nichol's Orange Cling 241 

Peck's Orange Cling 241 

Persian's Cling 243 

Phillips' Cling 243 

Runyon's Orange Cling 241 

Sellers' Golden Cling 241 

Staley 243 

Stilson 242 

Wylie Cling 243 

Yellow Tuscany 243 

Peanut growing 411 

Pear .....248 

Bartlett, why popular 249 

characteristics in California 249 

diseases . . . . 255 

distances for the 253 

drying 428 

for alkali soil 252 

irrigation 255 

largest on record 248 

localities for 249 

on quince stock 252 

propagation of 252 

pruning 253,254 

seedlings, growing 6q 

slug 438 

soils for 250 

storing and ripening 256 

table.s of varieties 252,257 

thinning 255 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Bartlett 258 

Beurre Bosc 259 

Beurre Clairgeau 259 

Beurre d'Anjou 259 

Beurre Diel 258 

Beurre Hardy 258 

Bloodgood 258 

Clapp's Favorite 258 

Comet 258 

Dana's Hovey 259 

Dearborn's Seedling 258 

Doyenne du Comice 259 

Duchess d' Angouleme 258 

Easter Beurre 260 

Flemish Beauty 258 

Glout Morceau 259 

Harvest 257 

Howell 258 

KielTer 260 

La wson 258 

Lecoiite , — 260 

Louise Bonne de Jersey 258 

Madeline 257 



476 



Index. 



Page. 

Onondaga 259 

Pound 260 

Seckel 258 

Souvenir du Congress 258 

Vicar of Winkfield 259 

White Doyenne 259 

Wilder Early 257 

Winter Bartiett 250, 257 

Winter Nelis 259 

Varieties: Califorriian. 

Block's Acme 259 

P.Barry 260 

Pecan, The 411 

Persimmon, Japanese .384 

Persimmon, Virginian 384 

Phosphates 157 

Pineapple 385 

Pine nuts 43 

Pistachio, The 412 

Planting, conditions favoring 90 

cutting back after 112,119 

depth of . 110 

operation of 108 

preparing land for 90 

speed in no 

time for 106 

use of manure 109 

Plowing, devices for 149 

orchard and vineyard 145 

on hillside 147 

to break hard-pan 146 

without dead furrows 91 

Plow, laying off with 93 

Plums and Prunes 261 

California false 39 

drying 429 

from the root 264 

in southern California 262 

localities for 261 

myrobalan 263 

planting 265 

pruning the 265 

seedlings 70 

stocks and soils 262 

table of varieties 270 

wild 39 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Abundance 271 

Agen, Prune d' 276 

Ba vay 's Green Gage 277 

Botan 271 

Bradshaw 271 

Bulgarian 276 

Burbank 272 

Columbia 273 

Coe's Golden Drop 276 

Coe's Late Red .. . . 277 

Damson 273 

Duane's Purple 272 

Fallenberg 277 

German prune 273 

Green Gage 271 

Grosse Prune d' Agen 275 

Hungarian priitie 273 

Ici> worth Imperatrice 277 

Imperial Epineuse 276 

Imperial Gage. ... .... -273 

Italian prune ,. ■■'^11 

Jeft'erson 273 

Kelsey Japan 273 

Normand 271 

Peach 271 

Petite Prune d' Agen ... 276 

Pond's Seedling 275 

Prince Engelbert ; 273 

Pruned' Agen 276 

Prunus Simoni .270 

Quackenbos 275 



Page. 

Red June 270 

Red Egg 273 

Red Magnum Bonum 273 

Robe de Sergeant 276 

Royale Hative 271 

Satsuma 273 

Simon 270 

Victoria 275 

Washington 272 

Wickson 272 

Yellow Egg 273 

Varieties: Pacific Coast. 

Burbank's Seedlings 560 

California Red 271 

Clyman 270 

Giant 275 

Golden prune. . 276 

Silver prune ...276 

Splendor ,....276 

Sugar prune 276 

Tragedy prune 270 

Pomegranate, The 385 

Pomelo 372 

Potash 158 

Prickly Pear 43.586 

Pruning 113 

bearing trees 126 

California style 116 

effects of 115 

gathering brush 133 

influenced by location 117 

low, advantages of. 114 

nursery 84 

purposes of 114 

saws, California 132 

times for 128 

tools 131 

to renew old trees 130 

vase form, origin of 117 

vase form, securing 118 

wounds, covering 133 

Quince. 278 

demand for. 278 

propagation 278 

pruning 279 

soils for 279 

Varieties: Introduced. 

Apple 280 

Champion 280 

Chinese 280 

Orange 280 

Portugal . .280 

Rea's Mammoth 280 

Varieties: Californian. 

Pineapple 280 

West's Mammoth 280 

Quincunx planting 95 

Rabbit fences 459 

Rabbits, destroying 460 

poisons for 460 

smears for 460 

Rainfall, records of 12 

Raisin making 431 

Raspberry, The 398 

black-caps 400 

culture of 399 

varieties, popular. 399^400 

wild 40 

Red Spider. 441 

Root-knots 458 

Russian introduction of fruits 47 

Salal 42 

Scale Insects 442 

black 445 

brown apricot 445 

cottony cushion 446 



Index. 



Ml 



Page. 

filbert ' 446 

pear 443 

oleander 444 

orange, red .. . 444 

orange, soft 445 

oyster shell 443 

rose and berry 444 

San Jose 443 

remedies for 446 

Salmon berry 40 

Sapota, white 387 

Scions, care of 79 

selection of 80 

Seed, growing trees from 70 

Seedlings, imported 72 

Service berry 42 

Soils for fruits 27 

adobe 35 

alkali 37 

alluvial 32 

bed-rock or hard-pan 36 

Characteristics of California 28 

classification of. 30 

clay 35 

defective 36 

granitic 35 

loams 31 

mesa .' 32 

.plains 31 

red 32 

river bottom ... 32 

sand-hill ridge 32 

sedimentary or silty 33 

Sour sap 457 

Squirrels, destroying 461 

Strawberry 401 

care of 404 

continuous bearing 401 

irrigating 403 

laying out for 402 

planting 403 

propagation 402 

situations and soils 401 

varieties, popular 405 



Pa 

wild 41, Ai 

Strawberry tree 386 

Sunburn, protection from 89, 112 

Sunlight, value of direct 21 

Sunshine, records of 22 

Temperature, lowest 20 

Temperature, records of. 12 

Thinning fruit 134 

Tomato tree 388 

Toyon 42 

Trees, activity and rest of 18 

heeling in 105 

selecting 103 

Tree-setters 102 

Triangle for laying out 98 

Tussock moth 437 

Vine (see grape) 

Walnut, black 414 

Walnut, English 412 

bacteriosis , 457 

bleaching 418 

blossoms of 416 

culture and soils 414 

gathering and drying 417 

propagation and planting 414 

pruning 415 

Varieties: 

Common or Los Angeles 418 

French varieties 418 

Japanese 418 

Kaghazi 419 

Soft Shell 418 

Weed killing by cultivation 153 

Weeds, evaporation by 141 

Wild fruits of California 38 

Windbreaks ..464 

trees for 465 

Wine grapes 315 

Winery refuse as manure 162 

Winter-killing, unknown 20 

Wire, measuring 93 

Woolly aphis 442 

Yellow jackets, killing 452 



And California Fruit Bulletin 

ESTABLISHED 1870 

Thirty Years of Uninterrupted Success 



THE ONLY WEEKLY PUBLISHED IN CALIFORNIA DEVOTED TO 
AGRICULTURE AND KINDRED .PURSUITS 



W>U>*U*^^«^^««^M^ •^ijTtB^jr" ■^ti.^V" n^-m^-m^^ - 









I The Standard Authority ? « Fruit growers the world 

5 on all branches of Pacific J i over have long learned to 

5 rural life. \ \ look to the Pacific Rural 

The author of this book .''^'^^■^'j Press for reliable, practical 

J has been the horticultural ^ j information, and experi- 

j editor of the Pacific Rural 

: Press for the last 25 years. 



ence of individual fruit 
growers. 



j«^*^ 
»»^*^ 



(m^^^nM*^m^m^^ign^m^Mj^nt^%^%^mj^^^^^nj^ 



»«^*^rf^ •^^vii^i^v*^^^^i^u"ii^^t»^,*v^rf^rf^rf« 



A High-Class Illustrated Paper 

Sent Post-paid to Any Part of America for One Year — 52 issues — for 



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Pacific Rural Press 



330 Market St. 
San Francisco, Cal. 



TRUMBULL & BEEBE 



GROWERS, IMPORTERS 
and DEALERS in 



Seeds, Trees and Plants 



Catalogue on Application 



419-421 SANSOME ST. 

San Francisco, Cal. 



Gro')t>ers of Choice Vegetable Seeds 

COX SEED CO. 



INCORPORATED 1890 

Importers and Exporters of ^ 



VEGETABLE, FLOWER 
FIELD and TREE SEEDS 
CLOVER and GRASS SEEDS 



<3FFICE AND WAREHOUSE 

411, 413, 415 

Sansomc St., San Francisco 

Branch, 34 Gansevoort St., New York 



li\iz lAame 



''6Vv\)eT' 



^^ ^^ ^^, Ss a &\\aYaxv\ee. o^ 




OLIVER'S ORCHARD and VINEYARD 

Plows are Everywhere Acknowledged 
to be the BEST. They are Strong, 
Durable, Light Draft, Easy to Handle, 
Made of the Best Material, and First- 
Class in Every Respect. 

We Supply Perfect Fitting Duplicate Parts 

Beware of Imitations. Take none 
but the genuine, made only by the 
Oliver Chilled Plow Works, and sold 
only by our authorized agents. 



\a axvd \b "WCavTv S\., Saxv "Stawdsco, CaV. 



FANCHER CREEK NURSERY 

FRESNO, CALIFORNIA 

Offer a Complete Line of Deciduous Fruit, Olives, Citrus Trees, Ornamental 

Trees and Grape-Vines. A well-selected assortment of 

Palms, looses, and Greenhouse Plants 

We Offer Many New and Valuable Novelties 

Send for Price List and Descriptive Catalogue * 



GEO. C. ROEDING, Proprietor 




OTASH^^^^^ 



is as necessary to plants as bread is to man. 
Some crops need more potash than others, 
but none can do without it. 

The character of soils must also be con- 
sidered, some soils being more deficient in 
plant food (potash, phosphoric acid and 
nitrogen) than others. 

Every farmer should read our pamphlets 
containing full particulars of the large 
number of experiments made by Experi- 
ment Stations with fertilizers on different 
soils and crops. 

These pamphlfis can be had free on application. 

GERMAN KALI WORKS, 93 Nassau st. n. y. 

Hessrs. Meyer, Wilson & Co., of San Francisco, 
Calif., are our agents for the Pacific Coast 



This is a Plow 

And a GOOD ONE, Too 

It will do better work and more of it than any other 
tool ever put into the s'round. 
Lfightning Weeders get all the weeds. We 

have 'em 6, 8, 10 ft. cut. 

DON'T FAIL to see our California Special "Handy" Fruit and Farm Truck. We 
make a specialty of tools for orchard cultivation 




*A*A*A***A***Ai«»*i**«A»i*** 



Write or call. 



Allison, ^Gii & Co., ^" ^J^1=VrncfJc''o^^^ 



Byron Jackson « « 
macbine mork$ 

625 Sixth St., San Francisco, Cal. 



************************ 




Manufacturers 
of '- 



Wrought Iron Frame Supporting Motor, 
Direct Connected to 8-inch Jackson Pat- 
ent Balanced Vertical Centrifugal Pump, 



4& 



CENTRIFUGAL 
PUMPS 

Singfle and Compound, both 
Vertical and Horizontal, for 
city water works, irrigating, 
reclaiming, mining, dredg- 
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We make special pumps either 
Single or Compound, Vertical 
or Horizontal, for direct con- 
nection to high-speed electric 
motors or water wheels, for 
any speed, capacity or head. 
Our pumps are all fitted with 
our 

Latest Improved 

End Thrust 

...Counter Balance... 



requiring no collars or thrust 
bearings on either Vertical or , 
Horizontal Pumps. Our Pat- 
ent Self - Oiling Bearings, 
either Vertical or Horizontal, 
are just adapted for Centrif- 
ugal Pumps, Dynamos, Water 
Wheels, or line shafting, and 
require no attention after 
once filled with oil. 

Send For 
Catalogue 



California Stump Puller 

IS ECONOMICAL AND RAPID 
FOR CLEARING OLD ORCHARDS 

In the improved form in 
which it is now offered to 
the public, it is universally- 
admitted to be the most 
practical, powerful, and 
successful machine of this 
kind in America, and the 
only machine in existence 
that can be successfully 
operated on hill-land. This 
stump puller is doing- good 
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States and Territories, 
Mexico, Central America 
and the Hawaiian Islands. 




FIRST PRIZE AWARDED AT ALL 
EXHIBITIONS 



PATENT STEEL SNATCH BLOCKS 
PATENT STEEL DRAFT HOOKS 



An Illustrated Catalogue zvith full particulars will be sevt for the askitig. 

A. BARNE5, Hanager 

16, 18 Zoe St., San Francisco 



PACIFIC 
NURSERIES 



Nurseries at 
MILBRAE, SAN MATEO CO. 



Office and Greenhouses and Sale Yard 

BAKER and LOMBARD STREETS 

San Francisco, Cal. 

THE LARGEST STOCK on the Pacific Coast of Azaleas, 
Camellias, Rhododendrons, Roses, Palms, both hardy and indoor 
varieties; Araucarias and Ferns, Evergreen and Deciduous Shade 
Trees and Shrubbery for parks and gardens, in the best varieties. 
Coniferous trees consisting of Cypress, Pines, Spruce, Abies, Ju- 
niperus, Taxus Arbor Vitas, Cedrus, Retinosphora and Crypto- 
merias in small and large specimen trees. 



F. LUDEMANN 

2740 Lombard St., San Francisco, CaL 




CHAMPION 

Spray and Whitewash 



PUMP 

The cut herewith illustrates 
our spraying- pump — the "Cham- 
' piou" — :\nd its adaptability to 
the work for which it is espe- 
cially desipried. As will be seen 
from the illustration, the pump 
is very complete and strong. It 
is perfectly double acting- and 
has a brass-lined C3'linder. The 
motion of the piston is horizon- 
tal. The handle is so arrang-ed 
that the leverage is very power- 
ful, and the movement is ea«!y and natural. The air chamber is unusually large, 
admitting of the continuous discharge necessary for good and thorough spraying. 
We carrj- everything connected with spraying; also many other pumps. Send for 
special catalogue. „^....u».'(d 

Wetster 2 1-2 Horse-Power^^ 
Gasoline Engine 

$185 

254 H. P. Simplest and Cheapest Gasoline En- 
gine made. It requires no engineer. All expense 
stops when engine stops. Ready on five minutes' 
notice. No Ashes, Smoke or Dirt. Engine can be 
left alone, while running, for hours. It is designed 
for running Pumps, Printing Presses, Blowers, 
Grinding Mills, Fanning Mills, Machinery of all 
kinds — in fact, for general farm and other pur- 
poses. This size engine with the proper size pump 
will irrigate from 10 to 20 acres of fruit. Send for 
Special Catalogue and Prices— Mailed Free. 

We carry 5, S, 12 and 15 Horse-P(y=wer Gaso- 
line Engines in Stock 

...SEND FOR CATALOGUE 




TANKS— AU Sizes 



Send for Our Catalogue — Mailed Free 



We also carry Tanks, Iron Pipe and Fittings, Brass Goods, Horse Powers, Deep Well 
Pumps, Power Pumps, Electric Pumps, Hose, Etc. 



wnnniM x i itti f 312 and 314 market street 

WV/WL/I1> Oi: LI I I LL, San Francisco. Cal. jt Jt j» jt 



INCORPORATED 1884 
500 ACRES 



CALirORNIA NUPSERY CO. 

Niles, Alameda Co., Cal. 

TREES and PLANTS— Fruit Trees, Nut Trees, Wine, 

Raisin and Table Grapes, Ornamentals, Shade Trees, 

Evergreens, Shrubs, Roses, Climbing 

Plants, &c. 

SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS: 

OLIVES— A larg-e collection of Freuch, Italian and Spanish Varieties 
ORANGE AND LEMON TREES of All Leading- Sorts 

For Complete List, Send/or Our Catalogues 

JOHN ROCK, Manager 
California Nursery Co., Niles, Alameda Co., Cal. 

The Sun Always Shines 



on the Fruits and Flowers which 
come from .... 

BURBANK'S EXPERIMENT FARMS 

For the whole world of horticulture acknowledges their great 
value. No establishment, public or private, since the dawn of 
history, has produced so many Vegetables, Trees, Plants, Grasses, 
Fruits and Flowers of 

ACKNOWLEDGED 

UNIVERSAL VALUE 

The BEST a.re yet to come Ca.ta.logue FREE to all 

Luther Burbank 

Santa Rosa, Cal., U. 5. A. 



COMMERCIAL MACHINE WORKS 




Continuous Wine Press — Saves its cost the first season. 



, . The California. Wine Press, . 

(Patented) 
Cruthert and Stemmert Combined 

OLIVE OIL MACHINERY specialty 

TOULOUSE & DELORIEUX 

MatiKfacturers 

620-622 Commercial St., san rrancisco, Cat. 




PORTIAXD ORti. 



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. . California . . 
Circular Orchard Harrow 



Eclipse 14-Tooth Vineyard Harrow 



HOOKER & CO. 

16 and 18 Drumm St. San Francisco 



OCT 17 1899 



r 



